By Jessie Gibbons, Legislative Director .Welcome to the month of February! This week, President Donald Trump addressed the nation in his first State of the Union, and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) monitored negotiations at one Senate hearing. In addition, four key bills gained new cosponsors in the House and Senate. .The TSCL report which contains Social Security Administration (SSA) data from 1937 through 2013, includes the following findings: .TSCL enthusiastically supports H.R. 1795, H.R. 2305, and H.R. 4613, and we look forward to helping build support for them through the remainder of the 113th Congress. .In addition, Avik Roy – Co-Founder and President of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity – suggested that lawmakers focus on increased transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. He said if action is not taken reduce prescription drug prices, "the poor, vulnerable, and elderly have the most to lose." .The new study takes a closer look at the Social Security "hold harmless" provision. Typically, Social Security benefits tend to grow slightly each year as COLAs compound over time. But when the Medicare premium increases more than an individual's COLA that can trigger this special provision of law. Hold harmless protects Social Security benefits when the dollar amount of an individual's annual COLA increase is not sufficient to cover the increase in the Medicare Part B premium increase. If the increase in Medicare Part B premium would cause an individual's net Social Security benefit to be less than it was the year before, then the Part B premium is reduced to ensure the individual's Social Security benefit does not decline. .In short, there are two main obstacles to the "Pelosi" bill to lower drug prices: overcoming objections from House Democratic progressives and getting through the Republican opposition in the Senate. .Many believe that Sen. Conrad's plan entails a fair balance of spending cuts and revenue increases, and they are pleased that he has revived the Fiscal Commission's recommendations. Others, however, have expressed concerns about some of the entitlement spending cuts that it calls for. TSCL in particular is concerned about the adoption of the Chained Consumer Price Index, which could significantly reduce the lifetime benefits collected by future Social Security recipients. .This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts to continue the summer recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 4th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following five...