Formerly helmed by the late Marge Raphael and currently headed by former vice chair Rochelle Lipkowitz, the Healthcare and Social Security Committee has been a stalwart defender of the social safety net. The committee has been tireless in writing to and meeting with local and national legislators to ensure that in place social programs like Social Security and Medicare are protected and expanded. The group went to Washington to demonstrate in support of the Affordable Care Act and it has vowed to finally make universal healthcare coverage the unalterable law of the land.