U.S. Senate Passes Graves-Spanberger Social Security Fairness Act to Eliminate the WEP & GPO, Sends Bill to President’s Desk to Provide Long Overdue Fairness to Police Officers, Firefighters, Educators, & Local & Governmental Employees

U.S. Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA-06) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) at this time launched the next assertion after a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted to go the Social Safety Equity Act, their bipartisan laws to get rid of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Authorities Pension Offset (GPO). The invoice now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into legislation.

“Lastly, Congress confirmed up for the thousands and thousands of Individuals — cops, firefighters, lecturers, federal staff, and different native and state public servants — who labored a second job to care for his or her households or started a second profession to afford to reside. Congress confirmed up for the lots of of hundreds of widows and widowers who’re denied their spouses’ Social Safety advantages whereas grappling with their loss,” mentioned Graves and Spanberger. “Louisianians, Virginians and Individuals throughout the nation have for greater than 4 a long time implored their representatives in Congress to take heed to their tales and shield their retirement safety and talent to assist their households. At present, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted to right this obtrusive injustice.”

The lawmakers continued, “For years, we’ve labored alongside these advocates to construct overwhelming bipartisan assist amongst our colleagues, urged management to provide these reforms the consideration impacted Individuals deserve, and finally pressure a vote on the U.S. Home ground to place an finish to this theft. We is not going to take our foot off the fuel till this invoice reaches the president’s desk and is signed into legislation to repeal the WEP and GPO.”

Earlier than Congress left Capitol Hill for the October district work interval, Graves and Spanberger filed a discharge petition for his or her Social Safety Equity Act — which secured the required 218 signatures wanted to pressure a vote within the U.S. Home. Final month, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Home voted to go the laws and ship it to the U.S. Senate.

BACKGROUND

The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Authorities Pension Offset have been added to the Social Safety Act in 1983. These two provisions cut back or get rid of retirement advantages for greater than 2.4 million Individuals who devoted a lot of their careers to public service — together with cops, firefighters, educators, and federal, state, and native authorities staff. In response to a nonpartisan 2024 report, the WEP denies earned advantages to greater than 1.7 million Individuals, and the GPO hurts greater than 420,000 Social Safety beneficiaries. Moreover, greater than 320,000 American retirees are impacted by each the WEP and the GPO.

Graves and Spanberger reintroduced the Social Safety Equity Act in January 2023 in the beginning of the 118th Congress. In November 2023, Graves and Spanberger urged the U.S. Home Methods and Means Committee to carry a listening to on reforms to the WEP and GPO — and a listening to was held later that month. In March 2024, the lawmakers urged the Committee to take the following step to get rid of the WEP and GPO by holding a markup on their bipartisan Social Safety Equity Act. Graves and Spanberger have persistently pushed for a vote on the invoice.

Presently, the WEP reduces the earned Social Safety advantages of a person who additionally receives a public pension from a job not coated by Social Safety. For instance, educators who don’t earn Social Safety in public faculties however who work part-time or through the summer season in jobs coated by Social Safety have lowered advantages, despite the fact that they pay into the system for sufficient quarters to obtain advantages. Likewise, the GPO impacts the spousal advantages of people that work as federal, state, or native authorities staff — together with cops, firefighters, and educators — if the job just isn’t coated by Social Safety. The GPO reduces by two-thirds the profit obtained by surviving spouses who additionally acquire a authorities pension — usually offsetting advantages completely.