Spanberger, Graves, Brown, Collins Urge U.S. Senate Leadership to Bring Social Security Fairness Act to the Floor to Eliminate the WEP & GPO

The Bipartisan, Bicameral “Social Security Fairness Act” — Which Passed in the U.S. House on Tuesday — Would Eliminate Two Provisions of the “Social Security Act” That Unfairly Reduce Benefits for More Than 2 Million Americans Who Have Devoted Much or All of Their Careers to Public Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following the bipartisan, bicameral Social Security Fairness Act’s passage in the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Garret Graves (R-LA-06), and U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) — the legislation’s sponsors — urged U.S. Senate leadership to follow suit and bring their legislation up for a vote as swiftly as possible.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House voted to pass the Social Security Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two provisions, which were added to the Social Security Act in 1983, unfairly reduce or eliminate earned Social Security benefits for more than 2.5 million Americans who’ve devoted their careers to public service — including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and federal, state, and local government employees.

In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the lawmakers urged U.S. Senate leadership to bring their Social Security Fairness Act up for a vote before the end of this Congress. The bill’s leaders also underscored the broad, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who have backed the legislation — including a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate. Additionally, the lawmakers made clear how the WEP and the GPO hurt the millions of Americans who have had their Social Security benefits slashed for more than 40 years.

Click here to read their letter, and the full text is below.

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Dear Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell:

On Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted with an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 327 Members to pass the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). We urge you to follow suit and bring the bill for a vote in the U.S. Senate as swiftly as possible. With broad bipartisan support among a filibuster-proof majority of 61 Senators who lead or cosponsor the bill, we must finish the job now.

For decades, our nation’s public servants have implored us to listen to their stories and to take congressional action to correct the glaring injustices of the WEP and the GPO. The WEP unfairly slashes the hard-earned benefits of Americans who both paid into Social Security and worked in the public sector throughout their careers. These public servants — 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 to pay the bills, retired federal employees who first worked in the private sector — are receiving a fraction of their earned retirement benefits. The GPO cuts — or often, altogether eliminates — Social Security survivor benefits for retirees who dedicated their entire careers to serving our communities, simply for choosing careers of service. These Americans are being punished for supporting and protecting our neighbors and families, educating our children, providing healthcare to our Veterans, delivering our mail, and more. Social Security’s short-term solvency should not be propped up by the stolen benefits of these retirees — benefits they have long been owed and will never get back.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives listened, and passed the Social Security Fairness Act. Now, the U.S. Senate must follow suit. For the first time in history, you have the opportunity to bring this bill across the finish line. We urge you, on behalf of the nearly 2.5 million retirees impacted by WEP and GPO in every state across the nation, to bring the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R.82) before the U.S. Senate for a vote. 

Thank you for your commitment to America’s public servants and retirees. We look forward to working with you to send this important legislation to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

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BACKGROUND

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 for enough quarters to receive benefits. Likewise, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees — including police officers, firefighters, and teachers — 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 — often offsetting benefits entirely.

According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the WEP currently impacts more than 2.1 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 750,000 retirees. More than 300,000 American retirees are impacted by both the WEP and the GPO.

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