Social Security & Welfare

Joe Biden (D)

• Boost social security benefits for retirees, particularly those who have been receiving checks for more than 20 years, had their spouse die or are living close to the poverty line
• Set a minimum social security benefit so that all workers who put in at least 30 years of work would be guaranteed a benefit equal to at least 125% of the federal poverty level
• Let public sector workers, including teachers, to begin receiving pension benefits sooner than the 10 years that many of their plans currently require
• Prioritize persistent poverty rural communities
• Form a commission to consider reparations proposals for African Americans

Michael Bloomberg (D)

• Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to add hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing over ten years
• Reform the Earned Income Tax Credit to make it much more generous, especially for single childless workers
• Increase the Child Tax Credit and make it fully refundable
• Increase funding for several existing federal housing programs
• Expand federal grants to cities that implement effective homelessness prevention programs
• To address local zoning laws that have pushed up the cost of housing, Bloomberg would create a $10 billion competitive grant program for municipalities that tackle restrictive zoning rules
• Address inequities in housing access and wealth, and enforce laws to ensure that developers, landlords, and lenders act fairly

Pete Buttigieg (D)

• End homelessness for families with children
• Fund national investment in affordable housing construction
• Expand federal protections for tenants against eviction and unjust harassment
• Proposes the Community Homestead Act: launch a public trust to purchase abandoned properties and provide them to eligible residents with a 10-year forgivable lien to promote the rehabilitation of the home and its use as a primary residence
• As mayor, implemented "1000 Houses in 1000 Days," where in total 1122 houses were either repaired or demolished because they did not meet state guidelines
• Form a commission to consider reparations proposals for African Americans

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

• Supports Social Security expansion
• Top advocate of improving our nation’s food system
• Against work requirement for welfare recipients
• Form a commission to consider reparations proposals for African Americans

Amy Klobuchar (D)

• Cut childhood poverty in half in ten years and end it within a generation
• Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Care Tax Credit, SNAP (food stamps), and overhaul our country’s housing policy
• Supports Social Security expansion
• Expand loans for and investments in local communities in need
• Doesn't support direct payments to slave descendants, instead prefers investment in their respective communities
• Combat segregation in housing
• End attempts to reduce federal housing subsidies
• Remove barriers to education for homeless and foster youth

Bernie Sanders (D)

• Supports Social Security expansion
• Establish a universal child care program
• Invest $1.48 trillion over 10 years in the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build, rehabilitate, and preserve the 7.4 million housing units needed to eliminate the affordable housing gap and homelessness
• Invest an additional $400 billion to build 2 million mixed-income social housing units to help desegregate and integrate communities
• Enact a national cap on annual rent increases at no more than 3 percent or 1.5 times the inflation rate
• Funding cuts from pension programs must be repealed
• Everyone should have access to affordable housing and nutritious food
• Form a commission to consider reparations proposals for African Americans

Tom Steyer (D)

• Expand retirement security programs
• Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit

Donald Trump (R)

• Outlined significant cuts to Social Security and Medicaid in his 2020 budget

Joe Walsh (R)

• Advocates for market-based solutions to education reform

Elizabeth Warren (D)

• Increase Social Security benefits immedeately by $200 a month for every current and future beneficiary
• Raise benefits for people who take time out of the workforce to care for a family member
• Ensure that every public sector worker gets their full Social Security benefits
• Raise the Social Security contribution requirement for those with incomes over $250,000 to 7.4%
• Invest $500 billion over the next decade to build/preserve 3.2 million affordable housing units, reduce rent payments by 10%, and address racial disparities in housing
• Invest $523 million to create 380,000 affordable rental homes in rural communities
• Provide $2 billion to help homeowners with underwater mortgages
• Invest $2.5 billion to rehabilitate 200,000 homes on tribal lands
• Increase funding for SNAP (food stamps)
• Form a commission to consider reparations proposals for African Americans
• Child care plan:
• Guarantee high-quality child care for every child in America
• Free for lower-income families
• Expected contributions by wealthier families would be capped at 7%
• Raise child care workers' wages

Bill Weld (R)

• Supports increased Medicaid access
• Privatize of some of Social Security
• Establish individual retirement accounts in fairness to millennials, who may never receive Social Security benefits