Rich Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss a Social Security benefit threat, the Fiscal Commission Act and what the Alliance is doing ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The Social Security trustees have projected that, without congressional action, benefits could be cut by 22 percent by 2032, with a more recent analysis putting the figure at 24 percent. Fiesta described a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, which the Alliance opposes. The bill, H.R.3289, would create an unelected commission to develop a benefit restructuring plan. The bill allows the commission’s proposed changes to be fast-tracked through the U.S. House and Senate with no hearings or amendments allowed. The Alliance is running advertising in Huizenga's district and in other targeted races, and is showing up at congressional offices ahead of the election. They plan to continue their opposition through the lame-duck session in November and December to prevent the commission from being established.
Fiesta also addressed vote-by-mail guidance for seniors, noting that 40 percent of voters over 65 voted by mail in 2024. He expressed optimism about early vote returns in Virginia and Pennsylvania heading into the mid-term Election on Nov. 3.
- Social Security trustees have projected a 22 percent benefit cut by 2032 if Congress does not act. However, a recent independent analysis put the figure at a 24 percent cut. The Alliance is on high alert against a bill introduced by Representative Bill Huizenga that would create an unelected panel to develop a benefit restructuring plan. The panel’s decision would not be open to public hearings, nor allow any amendments. The group’s proposed changes would then be put on a fast track for a vote in both chambers. The Alliance is lobbying against it in congressional offices and will continue to do so through the lame-duck session.
- The Alliance's independent expenditure PAC is running advertising in Huizenga's Michigan district and in other targeted races around the country. The Alliance's congressional voting record, available at retiredamericans.org, includes votes going back to the organization's founding in 2021. It allows voters to see how their representatives have voted on Social Security and Medicare issues year by year.
- Forty percent of voters over 65 voted by mail in 2024. Fiesta directed seniors to iwillvote.org to check their specific state and community voting rules. He recommended that seniors strongly consider voting early in person rather than by mail. He also claims that early vote returns in Virginia and Pennsylvania show greater enthusiasm and turnout for Alliance-endorsed candidates.
The 2032 Cliff and the Commission Bill
Rich Fiesta opened with the number that frames every Alliance for Retired Americans conversation about the 2026 election: 22 percent. That is the Social Security benefit cut the program's own trustees have projected will happen by 2032 if Congress takes no action to shore up the trust fund. A more recent independent analysis puts the figure at 24 percent. Either way, the people most affected are seniors who have paid into the system with every paycheck throughout their working lives and are counting on those benefits to remain.
The response the Alliance is fighting hardest right now is a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Republican from western Michigan, that would create an unelected fiscal commission to develop a restructuring plan for Social Security. The commission would meet behind closed doors, with no public hearings or input. When it emerges with a plan, that plan would go on a fast track in both the House and the Senate — a compressed timeline with no ability to amend the legislation the way normal bills can be amended. Fiesta described it as a mechanism designed specifically to fast-track benefit cuts, with the procedural protections that normally allow public accountability stripped away.
The Alliance is speaking with congressional offices, telling members not to vote for it. It plans to return to those offices after the election to make sure the bill does not advance during the lame-duck session in November and December. This Congress, Fiesta said, is not friendly to Social Security beneficiaries, and the window between the election and the new Congress is when the most damage could be done.
The Privatizers and the Scrap-the-Cap Solution
Fiesta addressed what he described as a recurring pattern: elected officials framing Social Security restructuring as a shared sacrifice. He cited Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton as a recent example. He said people would just have to suck it up regarding potential benefit cuts. The Alliance's response is the same it has always been. Social Security is not charity, Fiesta said. It is earned, paycheck by paycheck, by every working person in America.
The Alliance's preferred solution is lifting the Social Security earnings cap so that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share into the program. The cap currently allows high earners to stop contributing to Social Security partway through the year. Removing that cap, Fiesta said, would allow the program to improve benefits and keep the trust fund solid without cutting what current and future beneficiaries have earned.
Targeted Advertising and the Voting Record
The Alliance is running advertising through its independent expenditure PAC in Huizenga's western Michigan district, telling voters there that the fiscal commission bill puts both Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk. The Alliance is also running ads in other targeted races across the country, both against incumbents whose voting records are considered hostile to beneficiaries and in support of their endorsed candidates.
The Alliance's congressional voting record, available at retiredamericans.org, tracks key votes year by year since 2021. It is the tool Fiesta consistently directs voters to use. It allows any voter to look up how their representative or senator has voted on the issues that matter most to seniors and retirees.
Vote-by-Mail, EVIPs and the Early Vote Picture
Forty percent of voters over 65 voted by mail in 2024, the highest rate of any age group. Fiesta said the Alliance is doing what it always does: making sure seniors know how to vote in their state and ensuring that their votes count. For rules specific to each state and community, he directed listeners to iwillvote.org.
Fiesta also recommended that seniors planning to vote by mail reconsider and instead vote early in person. Some campaigns, he noted, are specifically encouraging early in-person voting under the name “EVIP” — early vote in person — as a response to confusion and suppression tactics around mail balloting. If early voting is available and accessible, he said, do that.
Heading into the mid-term election on Nov. 3, Fiesta said he is optimistic. Early vote returns in Virginia and Pennsylvania, both of which have had early voting available for several weeks, show greater enthusiasm and turnout among voters supporting Alliance-endorsed candidates. He encouraged people to vote early in person, if possible.
More information and the congressional voting record are available at retiredamericans.org.
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