From Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07)’s office:
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Spanberger-Graves 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, Federal Workers, & Local Government Employees
When Signed Into Law, the “Social Security Fairness Act” Would Eliminate Two Provisions of the “Social Security Act” That Reduce Earned Benefits for Nearly 2.5 Million Americans Who Have Devoted Much or All of Their Careers to Public Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Garret Graves (R-LA-06) tonight released the following statement after a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Social Security Fairness Act, their bipartisan legislation to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The bill now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
“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. “Virginians, Louisianans, and Americans across the country have for more than four decades implored their representatives in Congress to listen to their stories and protect their retirement security and ability to support their families. Today, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted to correct this glaring injustice.”
The lawmakers continued, “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. 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.”
Before Congress left Capitol Hill for the October district work period, Spanberger and Graves filed a discharge petition for their Social Security Fairness Act — which secured the required 218 signatures needed to force a vote in the U.S. House. Last month, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House voted to pass the legislation and send it to the U.S. Senate.
BACKGROUND
The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset were added to the Social Security Act in 1983. These two provisions reduce or eliminate retirement benefits for more than 2.4 million Americans who devoted much of their careers to public service — including police officers, firefighters, educators, and federal, state, and local government employees. According to a nonpartisan 2024 report, the WEP denies earned benefits to more than 1.7 million Americans, and the GPO hurts more than 420,000 Social Security beneficiaries. Additionally, more than 320,000 American retirees are impacted by both the WEP and the GPO.
Spanberger and Graves reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2023 at the start of the 118th Congress. In November 2023, Spanberger and Graves urged the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to hold a hearing on reforms to the WEP and GPO — and a hearing was held later that month. In March 2024, the lawmakers urged the Committee to take the next step to eliminate the WEP and GPO by holding a markup on their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. Spanberger and Graves have consistently pushed for a vote on the bill.
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 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.
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