The Bipartisan “Social Security Fairness Act” Would Eliminate Two Provisions of the “Social Security Act” That Unfairly Reduce Benefits for Millions of Americans Who Have Devoted Much of Their Careers to Public Service

Spanberger & Graves: “Today is a Major Milestone Made Possible by Tireless Advocates Who’ve Made Clear that Congress Must Act”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Garret Graves (R-LA-06) today announced that their discharge petition for the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act has hit 218 signatures — the number required to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Last week, Spanberger and Graves filed a discharge petition to force a vote on their bipartisan legislation that would eliminate both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two provisions unfairly reduce or eliminate earned Social Security benefits for approximately 2.8 million Americans who’ve devoted much of their careers to public service — including police officers, firefighters, educators, and federal, state, and local government employees.

“Today is a major milestone made possible by tireless advocates who’ve made clear that Congress must act. From Virginia to Louisiana to everywhere else in America, millions of retired public servants have waited more than 40 years for their elected officials to tackle this fundamental issue of fairness. These retirees deserve the benefits they earned through their hard work — and they deserve to see the WEP and GPO eliminated,” said Spanberger and Graves. “Over the past week, we’ve demonstrated that both Democrats and Republicans — from across the political spectrum — understand that the time is now to remove these penalties. But our work is far from over. We will be dogged in making sure the Social Security Fairness Act passes in the U.S. House, passes in the U.S. Senate, and finally gets signed into law. We must get it done.”

Now that the Spanberger-Graves discharge petition is at 218 signatures, the petition will sit on the House Calendar for seven legislative days. After that period, Graves and Spanberger will request that the Speaker schedule it for a vote before the full U.S. House of Representatives. According to U.S. House rules, a vote will be scheduled within two legislative days.

Earlier today, Spanberger and Graves hosted a press conference alongside representatives of retired police officers, firefighters, letter carriers, government employees, and educators across the country. Click here to watch.

The Social Security Fairness Act has 327 cosponsors — far more support than needed for the legislation to pass on the U.S. House floor.

BACKGROUND

Spanberger and Graves reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2023 at the start of the 118th Congress. In November 2023, Spanberger and Graves urged the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to hold a hearing on reforms to the WEP and GPO — and a hearing was held later that month. In March 2024, the lawmakers urged the Committee to take the next step to eliminate the WEP and GPO by holding a markup on their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. Spanberger and Graves have consistently pushed for a vote on the bill.

Currently, the WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, educators who do not earn Social Security in public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security have reduced benefits, even though they pay into the system just like others. Likewise, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees — including police officers, firefighters, and educators — if the job is not covered by Social Security. The GPO reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension.

The WEP currently impacts approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.

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