How One Law Change Can Dramatically Reduce Poverty

In this episode, we examine a true silver bullet that can dramatically reduce poverty in the United States: pass a proposed law to update and improve our SSI program.  We start out the episode with the story of Dorothy (not her real name), one of our many eviction court clients who is unable to work because of disability. Like 7.4 million Americans, Dorothy’s sole income is her SSI, Supplemental Security Income, check. But that check is only $994–less than the average rent, not to mention other expenses. This amount condemns millions of people to live in poverty and, like Dorothy and so many others, to experience eviction and homelessness.  Our guest **Stephen Nuñez**, a researcher at the Roosevelt Institute, shows that we can do better. Stephen’s analysis of the SSI Restoration Act, introduced in Congress by Senator Elizabeth Warren and others, would boost the SSI monthly amount and dismantle nonsensical restrictions. The bottom line: This legislation would do a LOT to help Dorothy and so many others: more deserving people would get SSI, and a lot less people on SSI would be in poverty.    Here is some of the suggested reading mentioned in the episode: - Estimating the Cost and Impacts of the SSI Restoration Act, by Stephen Nuñez, Jack Landry, https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/estimating-the-cost-and-impacts-of-the-ssi-restoration-act/ - SSI Restoration Act of 2026 Overview:, Justice in Aging, https://justiceinaging.org/the-supplemental-security-income-ssi-restoration-act/ - This One Neat Trick Can Reduce Homelessness https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/increase-ssi-reduce-homelessness