When a Social Security beneficiary dies, their loved ones may qualify for a one-time $255 lump-sum death payment. Yet that amount has not changed in 70 years — since 1954 — while inflation has pushed the costs for funerals higher. On Wednesday, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., introduced a new bill, the Social Security Survivor Benefits Equity Act, to raise the lump-sum death benefit to $2,900 to reflect today's cost of living. Under the terms of the bill, the higher $2,900 death benefit would go into effect in 2025. The proposal has been endorsed by advocacy organizations Social Security Works and the Strengthen Social Security Coalition.

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Persons: Sen, Peter Welch, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Welch, haven't Organizations: Social, Social Security Survivor, Equity, Finance, Social Security, National, Consumer, Urban, Clerical Workers, Social Security Coalition Locations: Sens