Rep. Langworthy’s Weekly Newsletter

This week brought welcome news for America’s seniors that Social Security benefits will increase by 3.6% in 2027, adding an average of $75 a month to retired workers’ benefits to help keep pace with costs. For seniors on fixed incomes, I know that every little bit helps—especially in New York. But, more importantly, the Working Families Tax Cuts we passed last year delivered even more meaningful relief for middle class seniors to claim an additional $6,000 on their federal tax deduction, essentially eliminating taxes on Social Security and putting more money back in their pockets. Social Security is not just a lifeline for retired Americans, but it’s a critical program that seniors have worked for, paid into, and earned. I will always fight to protect it.

But we also have to address the rising costs eating into those benefits, and while there is no question that there are things we need to keep doing at the federal level to reverse the tax and spend policies that led to 40-year inflation highs, we can’t ignore the glaring problems at the state level that have made New York’s cost of living unbearable for seniors and other hardworking taxpayers.

One of the biggest concerns I hear from seniors, families, and small business owners is how much their monthly energy bills have risen. New Yorkers are paying some of the highest electricity rates in the country, and you don’t have to look far to see the difference. For example, New York’s average residential electricity price was nearly 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with about 22 cents in neighboring Pennsylvania. To put that into real dollars, for a standard 3-bedroom home, a family living in New York can expect to pay roughly $900 to nearly $1,000 more every year just for power compared to an identical home in Pennsylvania.

That’s wrong and unfair—and why we are seeing a population exodus. Albany’s energy policies, including Governor Hochul’s gas ban and electrification mandates have cut off supply and access to affordable, reliable energy sources.

I believe we need an energy policy that puts affordability and reliability first, protects consumer choice and ensures we have enough energy to meet demand. That means seniors won’t have to choose between groceries and heating their home and it means hardworking families might get to take a summer vacation or make that needed home repair. It means real relief and common-sense policies that don’t make life harder. I will always keep fighting to make life more affordable for the people of Western New York and the Southern Tier.