On Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, to repeal the windfall elimination provision (WEP), and the government pension offset (GPO), voting 76-20.
If signed by the president, the bill would eliminate both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The WEP and GPO provisions reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for those who are covered by a government (federal, state or local)-sponsored guaranteed pension plan, such as federal employees who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The WEP currently impacts approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.
SEE ALSO: How Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision Affects Some Federal Retirees
The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced by House Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Garret Graves (R-LA) in 2023.
“Finally, Congress showed up for the millions of Americans — police officers, firefighters, teachers, federal employees, and other local and state public servants — who worked a second job to care for their families or began a second career to afford to live. Congress showed up for the hundreds of thousands of widows and widowers who are denied their spouses’ Social Security benefits while grappling with their loss,” said Spanberger and Graves.
“For years, we’ve worked alongside these advocates to build overwhelming bipartisan support among our colleagues, urged leadership to give these reforms the consideration impacted Americans deserve, and ultimately force a vote on the U.S. House floor to put an end to this theft.” Spanberger and Graves said. “We will not take our foot off the gas until this bill reaches the president’s desk and is signed into law to repeal the WEP and GPO.”
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. 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 — often offsetting benefits entirely.
My Federal Retirement will provide additional coverage if the bill is signed by the president, including how the bill affects current and future federal retirees.