Louisiana citizens continue to get both good and bad news, but most of the recent news has been positive. Perhaps the best news is that about 94,000 Louisianans are going to get Social Security benefits they have been denied for 40 years.

President Joe Biden has said he would sign the Social Security Fairness Act but hasn’t done it yet. Over 2 million Americans will get those benefits.

CBS News reported that once the bill is signed into law it would provide Social Security payments for months after December 2023. However, calculating what people are due, not to mention retroactive payments, may not be simple or quick, CBS said.

My late wife could have benefited. She retired from McNeese State University and had a pension from LASERS (the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System). She had worked other jobs and paid into Social Security, but her pension was larger than any Social Security benefits she would have received so she didn’t qualify for any.

The Advocate gives much of the credit for passage of the Social Security bill to U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who isn’t running for re-election. The co-author was Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Virginia, who is running for governor of her state.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, made sure the bill got to a House vote and U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy pushed for Senate passage. Other members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation also voted for the bill.

The Advocate reported that Graves and Spanberger said, “Finally, Congress showed up for the millions of Americans — police, firefighters, teachers, federal employees and other local and state public servants — who worked a second job to care for their families or began a second career to afford to live.”

Opponents said the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would increase the federal deficit by almost $196 billion over the next 10 years. The Social Security trust fund for retirement benefits is expected to run out of money in 2033 and this bill could hasten that shortfall by six months.

Cassidy said that isn’t a problem. He leads a bipartisan working group focused on preserving and protecting Social Security. Even if that isn’t the answer, the coming shortfall in the trust fund has to be addressed by Congress or Americans would see an unwelcome reduction in their benefits.

Another good news story reported that the percentage of working-age adults in Louisiana with a post-high school credential or degree has reached an all-time high. The Advocate reported that by the end of the 2023-24 academic year, the percentage rose to 50%, nearly 4 percentage points above 2021.

The state Board of Regents said that 4% increase means more than 73,000 adults ages 25-64 now have a postsecondary credential such as an associate or bachelor’s degree, a technical diploma or an industry-based certification.

A deputy regents commissioner said 68% of job postings in the state over the past year listed a credential as a requirement. The U.S. attainment rate in 2022 was 54.3%. The Board of Regents set a goal in 2019 for 60% of working-age adults to complete some post high school education by 2030.

The deputy regent said the state is “absolutely on track to get to that 60%.”

Now, a piece of bad news that really isn’t a surprise. Federal data shows that Louisiana’s vaccination rates are lower than much of the country. That data also shows only 33% of adults and 32% of children have gotten the flu shot. The national rates are 42% of adults and 42% of children.

Public health experts are alarmed over the decision of some public health officials in Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration to scale back awareness campaigns for the vaccines.

The state’s medical experts say the flu vaccine reduces the likelihood people will become infected and the vaccine also reduces the severity of the disease.

We will end this report with some more good news. The Advocate said more than 34,000 smoke alarms are being provided to Louisiana residents, thanks to a donation by Lowe’s and the efforts of the state fire marshal’s office.

Unfortunately, 65% of homes in Louisiana still don’t have working smoke alarms. To register or learn more about the program, visit lasfm.org.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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