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Rep. Linda Sánchez Announces that $250 Economic Recovery Payments to Social Security Recipients Begin to Go Out May 7

May 7, 2009
Washington, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Linda Sánchez announced that the $250 economic recovery payments for Social Security recipients, which were provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will begin to go out today, May 7 - with the goal of all these payments being sent out by the end of the month.

“In our state of California, over 4 million Social Security recipients will be receiving a $250 payment,” stated Rep. Linda Sánchez. “That is about $19 million in payments in my district alone. This extra money can make a real difference in the lives of older and disabled Americans - many of whom have been hit especially hard by the economic crisis that has swept the country.”

Millions of the Social Security recipients receiving these payments are widowed, divorced, or single and among the seniors with the lowest average incomes.

These payments will make a difference:

* Social Security is the only source of income for nearly one-third of all nonmarried seniors receiving Social Security.

* The median annual income for nonmarried Social Security recipients over age 65 who are women is only $13,151. The median annual income of nonmarried Social Security recipients over age 65 who are men is only $17,611.

* Nearly 30 percent of nonmarried Social Security recipients who are women over age 65 are poor or near-poor - with 17.4 percent living below the federal poverty line and another 10.8 percent with incomes below 125 percent of the poverty line.

In addition to the economic recovery payments being made to Social Security and SSI recipients, the Recovery Act also provides these payments to disabled veterans and Railroad Retirement recipients. The payments to Railroad Retirement recipients are scheduled to begin to go out in late May and the payments to disabled veterans in June. In total, more than 50 million Americans will get this one-time payment.

If someone regularly receives benefits from two or more of these programs - such as Social Security and Railroad Retirement, or a disabled veterans’ benefit and SSI - he or she will receive just one $250 payment.

“These Recovery Payments are just one key provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which I was proud to support,” continued Rep. Sánchez. “Just one month after the inauguration, Congress sent the Recovery Act to President Obama in answer to his call for “action, bold and swift” to get our economy back on track.”