For Immediate Release – September 5, 2014
Contact: Greta Bergstrom, Greta@TakeActionMinnesota.org, 651.336.6722
Retirement Security a ‘Top Priority’ for Likely Minnesota Voters
St. Paul, MN – Sandwiched between Labor Day and Sunday’s upcoming Grandparents Day, TakeAction Minnesota and SEIU Local 284 released new statewide polling data showing overwhelming support among likely voters for expanding Social Security benefits and increasing opportunities for making it easier for Minnesotans to save for retirement. The poll was commissioned by the Center for Community Change Action and Social Security Works.
On a tele-conference briefing with reporters, Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners, reviewed the new polling data, which demonstrates wide margins of support among Independents, Republicans and Democrats. Said Lake, “This polling confirms what we’ve previously seen: that people are overwhelmingly in support of expanding Social Security, and that the issue of retirement security in general is a top priority for Minnesota voters.”
The poll conducted by Lake Research Partners also included a national sample and state polls for Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Oregon, in addition to the Minnesota poll. The details of Minnesota’s poll can be downloaded here.
Carol Nieters, Executive Director of SEIU Local 284, which is working to pass the Minnesota Secure Choice Retirement Savings Plan at the state legislature, said she was not at all surprised by the popularity of protecting and expanding Social Security across the state. “Nearly one million Minnesota workers have no retirement savings options through their employer. And for those that do, only one in twenty save for retirement outside of work. To avert this growing crisis, it’s critical that Minnesota create retirement savings options, including a state-managed IRA plan that give workers without employer-sponsored plans a convenient way to save their own money for their own retirement.”
TakeAction Minnesota leader, Steve Loop, a grandfather of two, said the polling data also confirms what he has been hearing on the phones from workers and retirees around the state heading into the November election. “Social Security and retirement security are critical issues for Minnesota families and voters understand the importance of electing leaders that agree with our goals. There is real support for expanding retirement security, not just defending it, but actually expanding it.”
To mark Grandparents Day on Sunday September 7, TakeAction Minnesota will host an afternoon celebration and get-out-the-vote kickoff emphasizing the importance of the issues of retirement security and cross-generational economic opportunity in the fall elections. The event, which will include a community meal, door-knock and phone-bank, will run from Noon until five at Brooklyn United Methodist Church, 7200 Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Center. The event is free and open to the public.
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SEIU Local 284 is a labor union of 8,000 school service employees in the state of Minnesota. The Service Employees International Union is an organization of 2.1 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of all workers and the services they provide. Our union is dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.
TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide people’s network of individual and organizational members working collaboratively to raise the voices of Minnesotans in their own communities to advance social, racial and economic justice. The organization has offices in St. Paul, Duluth and Grand Rapids.
