AARP Wants Trump To Clarify Plans To Fund Social Security

Published: Monday, August 17, 2020 - 8:24am
Updated: Monday, February 22, 2021 - 12:53pm

Last week, President Donald Trump said at least four times that he would end the payroll tax. And that has AARP, the organization that represents Americans age 50 and older, worried. More than 1 million Arizonans receive Social Security benefits.

The president said he could eliminate the payroll tax if he were re-elected, but was unclear about how he would fund Social Security benefits, other than to say economic growth would offset the revenue losses. That spurred AARP’s CEO to send the president a letter asking for clarity. 

Dana Marie Kennedy is the state director for AARP Arizona

"And so it is a pay as you go system," she said. "So if all the sudden if we no longer had to pay into Social Security taxes, then it does create a shortfall. So we just want to make sure that we understand exactly what the President means. When he says that, you know, if he becomes president, he will abolish, you know, payroll taxes."

In Arizona, Social Security accounts for more than half of the income for roughly 50% of families.

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