Some Long Islanders fear Social Security benefits will be affected by Trump administration
Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Tom Suozzi are holding informational town halls to address these concerns.
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Town halls hosted by lawmakers are alleviating some fears that Social Security benefits will be impacted by the Trump administration.
"We're in trouble, and someone's got to stand up and do something or we're going to be walked all over," said Amy Dubow, from Long Beach.
Long Islanders who receive Social Security worry about their benefits that some rely on as their main source of income.
"It's what we worked for in our lifetime, in our working life. I want to make sure that we just don't lose it," said Gail Clement, from Roslyn.
Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Tom Suozzi are holding informational town halls to address these concerns.
He says about 70 million Americans receive Social Security, and they are not losing their benefits.
“I don’t want people to panic. But I want them to know the facts as what’s happening, what we’re doing to try to protect them and what they can do to try to fight for their rights," said Suozzi.
Suozzi and former Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley say the Trump administration cut 7,000 Social Security employees. They say citizens need to speak out.
"What we've seen on occasion is that when people raise their voices,
say no, hands off, they back away," said O'Malley.
In a statement sent to News12, Republican Rep. Nick Lalota says:
“… over the past two months, not a single one of my more than 750,000 constituents has reported a sudden loss of social security benefits or experienced an unusually long delay in hearing back from an SSA representative.”
Linda Robertson, from West Hempstead, says Rep. Suozzi's town hall helped alleviate some of her fears.
"Gives me hope that it might take longer than we want but this will work out eventually," she said.
