Senate passes Social Security bill repealing WEP and GPO

The Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act to provide increased Social Security benefits to millions of public sector retirees.

The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature after the Senate approved the legislation by a vote of 76-20 shortly after midnight on Saturday.

The legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset has been reintroduced in every Congress for decades, but had received a vote in both chambers just this year. The House of Representatives had already passed the bill in November.

WEP and GPO are two Social Security provisions that reduce or sometimes eliminate benefits for certain federal retirees and other employees and their surviving spouses. The WEP and GPO affect a total of approximately 2.4 million people, including federally insured people in the Public Service Retirement System as well as firefighters, teachers, police officers and many others.

The WEP reduces benefits for retirees who worked in both a public sector position not covered by Social Security and a position covered by Social Security, usually in the private sector. The GPO reduces Social Security benefits for surviving spouses who also worked in the public sector. The two-thirds cut through GPO often results in a complete loss of benefit.

The vote on the Social Security Fairness Act came shortly after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to take action on the bill at a labor rally last week. Leaders and members of unions and other labor organizations attended the rally to push for a Senate vote on the long-standing bill.

Many have called the WEP and GPO regulations unfair to officials. Supporters said the legislation will ensure all public sector retirees receive the Social Security benefits they earned throughout their careers. Over the years, the bill has gained strong bipartisan support and the support of many organizations and unions. John Hatton, staff vice president for policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, called the Senate’s action this week “a long time coming.”

“We’ve been working on this for 40 years,” Hatton said The Federal Drive with Tom Temin on Tuesday. “It penalizes people simply because they have earned their state pension and then separately earn their National Insurance benefits by working in the private sector. Our members who are CSRS retirees never understood it. They were always upset about it. They view it as theft, as we do, and so do the firefighters, police officers, teachers and city employees across the country who are also affected by it.”

The legislation has also drawn some criticism. Republicans who voted against the bill argued that it would have a negative impact on Social Security’s solvency and called for reforms rather than a complete repeal of WEP and GPO.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan organization, has said that eliminating WEP and GPO would accelerate Social Security’s insolvency by about six months and potentially lead to across-the-board cuts for Social Security recipients. The organization has called for retaining the WEP and GPO and reforming the two social security provisions instead.

“The current system pays too much to some beneficiaries and too little to others – thoughtful reforms like those proposed by President Obama or the late Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Texas) could address this while improving the solvency of trust funds,” the committee wrote in one Blog from December 12th post. “We encourage lawmakers to find solutions to Social Security’s impending insolvency and not further deteriorate the program’s finances.”

Lawmakers who have advocated for repeal of WEP and GPO for decades celebrated the Senate’s passage of the bill.

“There is no doubt that Congress has taken too long to address this inequality, but I am grateful for the diligent bipartisan work of my colleagues to help us finally get this over the finish line,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski ( R-Alaska). in a statement early Saturday morning. “This legislation takes care of the Alaskans who have served our communities for years, serving in important roles such as teachers, firefighters and police officers. Hard-working public servants should not be deprived of the benefits they received as a result of their career choice, and I am relieved that this long-standing injustice has been redressed.”

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