Issue Position: Seniors & Veterans

Issue Position

Quick Notes

-Stephanie opposes any attempts to privatize Social Security or Medicare, and she is fighting against Republican efforts to do so.
-Stephanie voted for largest overhaul of prescription drug pricing in decades, which, if enacted, would lower the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices and by holding prescription drug companies accountable.
-Stephanie voted to hold VA officials accountable and ensure department heads have the ability to fire employees for failing to perform.
-The core components of Stephanie's BATTLE for Servicemembers Act are now law, improving the transition from military to civilian life with training that helps departing servicemembers get an education, learn a skill or trade, or start a small business.

Seniors

As Baby Boomers begin to retire, we are seeing a rapidly growing senior population in Florida and America. Stephanie believes it is our responsibility as a society to protect and empower seniors and veterans and show them the respect they have earned. In particular, she is working to ensure seniors and veterans feel welcomed and appreciated here in Florida.

Stephanie is working to empower seniors to live longer, healthier and more independent lives, starting with protecting Social Security and Medicare. She strongly opposes efforts to privatize Social Security or any similar measures that would gamble seniors' hard-earned benefits on Wall Street. She also opposes any attempts to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, or pull money out of Social Security to pay for other government programs. While the author of a responsible balanced budget amendment, Stephanie voted against a Republican amendment because it did not have protections for Social Security and Medicare.

Stephanie is also pushing to recalculate the formula that determines cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security retirees because as inflation and prices go up, so should the COLA. And, Stephanie believes that if Social Security beneficiaries don't get a raise, then neither should Members of Congress.

Stephanie opposes efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher system, which would do nothing but shift the burden of health care from the government on to the backs of seniors. Our seniors deserve better than that. At the same time, Stephanie is fighting to lower the cost of prescription drugs by voting to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices and hold prescription drug companies accountable. She is also working to expand home health care opportunities so that seniors have more choices in how they retire.

Stephanie will also continue to support efforts that combat age discrimination in hiring and employment and will bring federal and state officials together to protect seniors from online scams and predatory practices. Stephanie will never back down from going after these predators.

Veterans

As someone who worked alongside our service members in the U.S. Department of Defense, Stephanie is a strong and tireless advocate for our nation's service members and veterans. In her role as a national security specialist, Stephanie saw the sacrifice our service members make every day and believes firmly we should have their backs when they come home from the battlefield.

First and foremost, Stephanie is fighting to fix the broken Department of Veterans Affairs because our veterans deserve better than long lines and endless red tape. She has voted to hold VA officials accountable and ensure department heads have the ability to fire employees for failing to perform. She also fought to allow Members of Congress to have mobile offices in VA medical centers so that our veterans have constituent advocates on site to make access to services more convenient.

When our troops come home, we must do everything we can to ease their transition back into civilian life. That means expanding education and job training opportunities for all veterans and stop attempts to cut the Post 9/11 GI Bill that is helping so many veterans and their families go to college. In fact, the core components of Stephanie's BATTLE for Servicemembers Act are now law, improving the transition from military to civilian life with training that helps departing servicemembers get an education, learn a skill or trade, or start a small business.

Stephanie is fighting for better and more accessible health care for all veterans, including for drug addiction and mental health issues. Far too many veterans are dying by suicide, and it is past time to increase resources to expand mental health treatment.

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