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

Thanks to the Congresswoman’s Effort to Force a Vote on the Legislation, the “Social Security Fairness Act” Will Come to the U.S. House Floor for a Vote When Congress Returns to Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today called on her colleagues to vote to pass her bipartisan legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) in an op-ed for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The Social Security Fairness Act — which Spanberger leads in the U.S. House alongside U.S. Representative Garret Graves (R-LA-06) — would eliminate both the WEP and the 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.

Thanks to a discharge petition Spanberger and Graves filed that secured the 218 signatures required to force a vote on their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on the legislation when Congress returns to Capitol Hill in November.

In her Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed, Spanberger shared stories of Virginians who have had their retirement benefits slashed by the WEP and the GPO — and encouraged her colleagues to join her in voting to deliver long overdue relief to these public servants.

Click here to read her op-ed, and the full text is below.

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Richmond Times-Dispatch: U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger: Too many are denied full Social Security benefits. Here’s how to fix it

Friday, October 11, 2024

For generations, Americans have been promised that if you work hard, save, and contribute to Social Security, you will be afforded a secure retirement. But today, millions of retired public servants — Americans who both paid into Social Security and worked in the public sector during their careers — are losing the benefits they rightfully earned. In Congress, I’m spearheading the bipartisan effort to put an end to this theft.

These public servants — like retired firefighters who worked a second job, retired police officers who began a second career after leaving the force, retired teachers who took a summer job, retired federal employees who first worked in the private sector — are receiving a fraction of their earned retirement benefits. Retired first responders are denied earned spousal benefits. Federal retirees, after grappling with the loss of their spouse, are denied the survivor benefits they would have received if not for joining the federal workforce.

At the root of this issue are two misguided provisions that were added to the Social Security Act in 1983: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These policies unfairly reduce or eliminate retirement benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service — and paid into Social Security, just like others.

WEP currently takes away hard-earned benefits from more than 46,000 Virginians and more than two million Americans. Nearly 8,000 Virginians and 750,000 Americans have seen their Social Security benefits reduced by GPO. These are real people — not just numbers. Since first coming to Congress, I’ve heard from thousands of these Virginians.

Nancy, a retired federal employee from Orange, Virginia, worked 40 quarters in private industry — enough to qualify for Social Security — before going to work for the federal government. Upon retiring, she learned that she fell under the WEP and that her retirement income would be reduced by more than $400 each month.

Les, a former U.S. Postal Service employee from Prince William County, Virginia, went to work in the private sector following his retirement from public service and accrued enough quarters to draw Social Security benefits. Les hoped to use this retirement income to pay for his health insurance. After filing for Social Security, he learned that because of these provisions, his earned benefits would not even cover half of his monthly payment.

A Virginia police officer named Francis who served his community in law enforcement for more than 30 years is ineligible to receive survivor benefits — even though his wife paid into the system — due to the GPO. Had he not opted to spend decades protecting his neighbors, he would be eligible for these earned benefits.

These stories are all too common. That’s why I’ve been leading an effort for more than four years to repeal these harmful provisions and protect the retirement benefits of Virginians and Americans across our country.

My bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act — which I lead in the U.S. House of Representatives alongside Representative Garret Graves, a Republican from Louisiana — would address this basic issue of fairness by fully eliminating the WEP and the GPO.

This legislation, now the second-most cosponsored bill in the U.S. House, has garnered significant bipartisan support not only from fellow lawmakers but also from the public servants and advocacy groups who have been working to right this wrong for decades.

This Congress, we have a real opportunity to get this legislation across the finish line. Thanks to a bipartisan effort that Rep. Graves and I led to bypass a gridlocked Congress, this bill is coming before the House for a vote. Earlier this month, Rep. Graves and I filed a discharge petition — a rarely used procedural tool that allows lawmakers to petition to bring bills directly to the floor. In just over one week, we secured the necessary 218 signatures to force a vote on our bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act.

But time is of the essence. We only have five more voting weeks in this Congress to seize this moment, bring the bill to the House floor, and move it swiftly through the Senate to guarantee that it reaches the President’s desk by the end of the year.

As the Representative for thousands of impacted current and retired public servants, I am committed to using every mechanism available to finally right this wrong for them — and for the millions of Americans who serve our communities, keep our neighbors safe, and keep our country strong.

I urge my colleagues to join us in voting to pass this bipartisan legislation when it comes to the floor, and I urge the U.S. Senate to follow our lead. By passing the Social Security Fairness Act, we can deliver long overdue relief to America’s public servants — and the benefits they rightfully earned to their bank accounts.

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