On the heels of Alzheimer’s awareness month, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) has helped introduced legislation that would provide support for individuals acting as caregivers for ill family members or other chronically dependent individuals. The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act would increase Social Security benefits for qualifying caregivers who spend more than 80 hours per month providing care to their loved ones.
Caregivers are often overlooked in the discussion of how to address and prevent long-term chronic illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease. However, many caregivers are forced to miss work or take unpaid leave, which places a severe financial strain on their families. Kuster has long-supported efforts and programs to help ease this burden on caregivers.
“As someone who served as a caregiver for my mother when she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, I understand firsthand the challenges caregivers face when a loved one or dependent becomes chronically ill. I was lucky enough to also have the support of my family, but many individuals face these challenges alone, and the financial burden of missed work can be truly crippling,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “We must ensure that every caregiver has the support and resources they need to provide care for their ill loved ones and fellow Granite Staters who need the help, and that’s why I was proud to help introduce the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act, which will provide a crucial credit to long-term caregivers.”
The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act would be particularly beneficial to women, who make up 66 percent of unpaid caregivers and who are more likely to care for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia. Providing caregivers with this credit would help recognize their positive societal contribution, and would improve their retirement security by boosting their Social Security benefits.
Congresswoman Annie Kuster's mother was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2001, and Kuster spent the next four years caring for her alongside her family. Kuster and her mother co-wrote a book entitled, "The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer's with Love and Laughter” to detail their experience with Alzheimer's. Kuster continues to advocate in Congress for increased research funding and programs to support Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers.
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It appears we can no longer as a nation agree on roads. Kirstin Capps at the Atlantic sums it up: Since April, the U.S. Department of Transportation has warned that the trust used to fund state transportation projects is running out of money. Unless Congress takes action to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, the administration expects that it will be exhausted by the end of August . . . I’m very disappointed to learn that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation is being forced to push $25 million worth of summer construction projects back until next year due to uncertainty regarding the Highway Trust Fund. The Highway Trust Fund helps states complete much-needed road and infrastructure repairs, and here in New Hampshire these projects are vital to the safety of Granite State drivers. What’s more, our construction workers rely on these jobs during the busy summer construction season, so delaying these projects will hurt both our public safety and our state’s economy. In New Hampshire and across the country, investment in infrastructure serves a critical role in local economies by helping expand economic growth and supporting well-paying construction jobs. I’m committed to finding a serious solution to keep the Highway Trust Fund open and ensure our cities and towns have the resources they need to invest in roads and bridges and keep our economy growing. The Republican gimmick to pay for the Highway Trust Fund by closing the post office one day a week was rightfully rejected by members on both sides of the aisle. I helped introduce legislation to solve the funding issue with the Highway Trust Fund by closing a loophole for corporations that shift their headquarters overseas to avoid paying their fair share. If this bill is unsatisfactory to the Republican House Majority, they should present their own solution and do so quickly. The uncertainty caused by Speaker Boehner’s obstructionism is hurting towns in New Hampshire and it needs to stop. The summer travel and tourism season is officially underway and that provides an important reminder of the critical relationship between our local infrastructure and our economy, The Highway Trust Fund supports important projects, including the I-93 expansion, and hundreds of Granite State jobs. A funding shortfall would result in project delays and job loss that we simply cannot afford. The State Republican Party supported Senator Shaheen's decision. Just kidding. Senator Shaheen's call for an increase in the federal gas tax shows that she has little sympathy for Granite Staters who have been hurt by Governor Hassan's state gas tax hike. Instead of finding ways to eliminate waste and better manage our existing funds, Senator Shaheen is focused on taking even more money out of the pockets of working families who cannot afford another gas tax hike," said NHGOP Chairman Jennifer Horn. "Senator Shaheen's call for a high federal gas tax reminds her constituents that she doesn't understand the struggles facing small business owners and that she is out of touch with New Hampshire's fiscally responsible values. Jim Rubens, who until a few weeks ago supported a carbon tax, was also very disappointed in Shaheen. This tax will hurt the working poor and North Country more than anyone else. If tax rates are to be changed, the purpose must be to grow good-paying domestic jobs, to make the federal and personal tax code simpler, fairer, and flatter, and there must be no net tax increases. Unfortunately, Jeanne Shaheen’s remedy for all problems is spending and tax increases. As a lifetime career politician, she has fallen out of touch with New Hampshire taxpayers whose household budgets are already stretched and who cannot tolerate more tax increases. Memo to Jeanne Shaheen: The American taxpayer ATM is out of cash. The President has a new nominee to head the Veterans Administration. The over-caffeinated staffers grinding away their youths in the dark corners of Ann Kuster's office responded with a press release, vaguely reflecting that they no longer feel entirely human, or remember what their mother's faces look like. CONCORD, NH – This morning, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) released the following statement regarding President Obama’s nomination of Bob McDonald to VA Secretary. Kuster was one of the first members of the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to call for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation after reports of gross mismanagement at the VA emerged: The State Republican Party dinged Representatives Shea-Porter and Kuster recently for voting against an act that they assert would have dropped gas prices: Concord - New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn today released the following statement on Congresswomen Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter voting against commonsense, bipartisan legislation that lowers gas prices for working families. With gas prices at a six-year high, the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act will provide relief at the pump and help create jobs: Steve MacDonald at Granite Grok took issue with the pro-gun control letter to Speaker Boehner that both Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McLane Kuster signed: Do you remember when the Bloomberg bus came to Concord, with some help from GraniteState Progress and the state Democrat Party? They read the names of so-called victims of gun violence. That list was dirty with the names of criminals and terrorists killed by law enforcement. There were even the names of attackers shot by intended victims in self-defense who acted to save their own lives–a life saved that was meaningless to the progressives happily honoring their attackers. No one who signed on to support the fraud or read the names asked or cared, they just wanted to attack the Bill of Rights, so the more names the better. I regret that he provided no links to back up this argument.
Representative Kuster has introduced legislation to "fix a glitch" in the way exchange plan subsidies are calculated under the Affordable Care Act: In an attempt to address what’s referred to as the “family glitch” in the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster introduced the Family Coverage Act this week to expand access to premium tax credits for those whose employer-provided health insurance exceeds a certain amount of their annual household income. Senator Shaheen is leading a coalition of senators, which also includes Senator Ayotte, in a drive to dismantle the sugar tariffs that protect a handful of American sugar farmers from competition with more efficient producers in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. On a personal note, the sugar tariff was used by every introductory economics textbook I read to illustrate counterproductive protectionism. Coddled by politicians for decades, the U.S. sugar industry is now under fire in the Senate. Senators Shaheen and Ayotte have joined forces to block a federal law that grants money to states to fund special motorcycle checkpoints. At the checkpoints police would review whether motorcycles met regulatory standards for noise, handlebar height, registration etc. The bipartisan effort would block federal resources for one year from being used to fund these types of discriminatory motorcycle-only checkpoints. Currently, motorcycle riders are already subject to state registration, inspection, licensing and helmet laws and must stop at sobriety check points like all other motorists. The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers recently proposed a rule expanding the definition of 'surface waters of the United States' which would give the government greater regulatory capabilities. A complementary rule would exempt 56 water conservation practices used by landowners from requiring permits or oversight. At a hearing on that rule representatives, including Ann Kuster, protested that farmers had been locked out of the rule making process: House Republicans and Democrats voiced concerns to the Department of Agriculture's top environmental official today about an interpretive rule that they say is confusing, is risky and lacks input from the agriculture community. At a hearing recently Senator Ayotte pressed a Commerce Department nominee to review the limits placed on the fishing of certain species such as cod following the collapse of fish stocks four years ago. Ayotte is concerned that over-regulation will drive fishermen out of business: Our small fishermen in New Hampshire have been devastated by, in particular, the cod quotas, by the catch share regulations coming out of NOAA and Commerce, How can we look at these regulations again, in light of sustaining our small fishermen and women who just want to make a living off the waters? For many of them it's a family tradition and we're very proud of them. Senator Shaheen has meanwhile been fretting that federal aid will be applied in ways that help a few larger fishing organizations to further consolidate, and wrote a letter to that effect to the administrator of the National Oceanic and Air Administration: Dr. Kathryn Sullivan |