The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted their careers to public service.
Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) today called on U.S. House leadership to bring forward their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act that would eliminate the two provisions for a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In a letter sent to congressional leadership and U.S. House Ways and Means Committee leadership in both parties, Spanberger and Davis called for a vote on their Social Security Fairness Act as soon as possible – citing strong support from members on both sides of the aisle.
In their letter, Spanberger and Davis also highlighted the personal impacts the WEP and GPO have had on the financial security of constituents in Virginia and Illinois.
“We write to urge you to discharge H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, from the Ways and Means Committee and bring it to the House floor for a vote as soon as possible,” said Spanberger and Davis. “Passing the Social Security Fairness Act will immediately benefit millions of retired police officers, federal employees, first responders, and other public servants. H.R. 82 has significant bipartisan support — of the more than 7,700 bills introduced this Congress, only 18 have more cosponsors — and it’s time for the House to vote.”
Their letter continued: “The Social Security Fairness Act would remove both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) from the Social Security Act. The WEP and the GPO have substantially reduced more than 2 million retired public sector employees’ Social Security benefits, affecting about 4 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries. In 2020, the WEP reduced benefits for 48,697 Virginians and 99,640 Illinoisians — and the GPO reduced benefits for 7,849 Virginians and 48,046 Illinoisians.”
The push from Spanberger and Davis is supported by several organizations representing America’s police officers, firefighters, and other public sector employees.
“The Social Security Fairness Act really is about fairness,” said Patrick Yoes, national president, Fraternal Order of Police. “Fairness to public employees who served their communities and happen to be working for local governments that chose decades ago to construct a retirement system separate from the Social Security Act, but earned a Social Security benefit through other work. This particularly impacts police officers, who retire earlier than other government employees and begin second careers which require them to pay into the Social Security system. No one should be penalized because of their public service.”
“The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset have unfairly punished retired public servants through reduced Social Security benefits for far too long,” said Ken Thomas, national president, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. “With this bill, Reps. Davis and Spanberger have provided hope for the millions of retirees and survivors currently affected by this inequitable practice. NARFE urges swift consideration of the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal these harmful policies and improve fairness for future retirees.”
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 the 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.
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