Seniors hope Senate will get them a check

House stimulus plan excludes them

As the U.S. Congress debates an economic stimulus package to reboot the stalled economy, many older Americans are rooting for a Senate proposal to include 20 million seniors among those who would receive checks.

A bipartisan House version passed last week includes rebates only for people who earn a paycheck or pay income taxes on non-Social Security income. A Senate Finance Committee version that would give seniors a payment ran into opposition on the floor Thursday but could be voted on today.

North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who's up for re-election this year, supports including seniors and disabled veterans in the complicated stimulus package, which also includes incentives for businesses. The White House has urged Dole, a Republican, to stay with the House's approach, which would mean more money for people in the work force, Dole spokesman Brian Nick said.

President Bush pushed breaks for businesses and tax rebates for millions, but not for seniors, during appearances in the Midwest on Friday. Meanwhile, AARP and other organizations urged aid specifically for older people whose Social Security checks are their only means of support.

"Both sides are working very actively," Nick said.

The state's other Republican senator, Richard Burr, thinks the economy needs a boost, but wants to see specifics on how people and businesses will be helped, a spokesman said Friday.

Without the Senate action, people such as Georgia O'Dell, 70, a Raleigh resident who's on Social Security, would get nothing.

O'Dell lives in a subsidized apartment building in Raleigh's Glenwood South district. She said rising prices for fuel, food, health care and other necessities have forced her and other seniors on fixed incomes to watch every penny.

"I thought I shopped wisely before, but now it's scrimpily," O'Dell said, wheeling her rolling walker from a Meals on Wheels lunch back to her apartment.

David Blau, an Ohio State University economics professor formerly at UNC-Chapel Hill, said older people may not be the best choice for stimulus checks.

"Most economists would argue that what really matters is how poor you are," Blau said. "The poorer you are, the more likely you are to immediately spend a rebate. The elderly are less poor on average than the rest of the population. They are also probably less rich."

But Robert Clark, an NCSU professor of economics and management, said Congress has no good reason to leave out seniors.

"If you are thinking about a giveback to the population, I don't know why they have tried to limit it to earners," Clark said. "There's no rhyme or reason as to why this should be a rebate, as opposed to a more general payback of money."

Clark pointed out that more than four in 10 Americans over 65 get 90 percent of their income from Social Security, providing a fixed income that stretches thin when prices rise and basic needs become more expensive.

Last year, Social Security recipients got a 2.3 percent increase, based on the Consumer Price Index. But transportation went up 8.3 percent and energy rose 17.4 percent, according to the same federal index.

"As soon as we get our little 2 percent increase, we are re-evaluated and our rent goes up," said Sue Miller, 60, who lives in subsidized Glenwood Towers.

The effects of such economic forces are already evident in the Triangle:

* More than 11,000 people statewide are on waiting lists for programs such as Meals on Wheels and other programs based in the community and paid for by state grants.

* Meals on Wheels of Wake County is serving 150 more people per day than at this time last year but receiving fewer contributions from clients. Two-thirds of the nonprofit's clients are over 65.

* People older than 65 make up about 18 percent of the 400,000 people at risk of going hungry in the 34 counties served by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, according to the food bank. Statewide, people over 65 represent about 12 percent of the population.

* About 4,500 people have applied for energy assistance in Wake County this winter, with February and March still to go, in contrast to 7,800 for the entire winter last year.

"The incomes are not rising to keep up with the cost of living, especially in the Raleigh area," said Willie Beachum of Wake County Human Services.

Polly Williams, a Raleigh retiree and activist, said if anyone is going to be left out of the package, it should be people at much higher income levels.

"There are very many older people that are in severely straitened circumstances; it doesn't seem fair to deny them a rebate," Williams said. "I'm talking about the people that are trying to get along on Social Security or on Social Security and a little teeny pension that has lost its value."