Action Alert #101 – Tony Thurmond Has Our Back!
On Tuesday, May 29, Tony Thurmond introduced a strong resolution to be voted on by the California state legislature to request that the government in Washington repeal the GPO and WEP. He knows how badly these provisions hurt California retirees, and he is on our side! Please read this through and send it to your friends. This resolution is much stronger than previous resolutions since it details some of the problems not mentioned before. Call your CA State Assembly Member and tell them to sign on. After California, we will send this out to other states.
California legislature—2017–18 regular session
Assembly Joint Resolution No. 41
Introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond
May 29, 2018
Assembly Joint Resolution No. 41—Relative to Social Security.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
AJR 41, as introduced, Thurmond. Social Security.
This measure would request the Congress of the United States to enact, and the President to sign, legislation that would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision
from the Social Security Act.
Fiscal committee: no.
line 1 WHEREAS, Two Federal Social Security Administration laws,
line 2 the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension
line 3 Offset, passed by Congress more than 30 years ago without
line 4 statistical analysis, diminish or eliminate the fully earned Social
line 5 Security benefits of large numbers of public service employees in
line 6 California; and
line 7 WHEREAS, These provisions affect workers who have been
line 8 employed in a government position which is not coordinated with
line 9 the Social Security program, such as California public school
line 10 teachers who have not been able to receive Social Security credits
line 11 since 1965; and
line 12 WHEREAS, Most peace officers, including the California
line 13 Highway Patrol, firefighters, and many other public servants
line 14 working for cities and special districts are not covered by Social
line 15 Security, making them subject to these provisions; and
AJR 41 — 2 —
line 1 WHEREAS, In California, more than 300,000 retirees have had
line 2 their Social Security benefits diminished or completely eliminated
line 3 by these laws; and
line 4 WHEREAS, Effective government requires highly qualified
line 5 and motivated personnel, and California government agencies need
line 6 to compete to recruit and retain outstanding employees, including
line 7 hiring 16,000 new public school teachers each year; and
line 8 WHEREAS, The recruitment and retention of qualified
line 9 individuals reentering the workforce is impeded by these two
line 10 provisions which reduce or eliminate the Social Security retirement
line 11 benefits either earned by workers, themselves, or received through
line 12 dependent status; and
line 13 WHEREAS, The Government Pension Offset severely cuts, and
line 14 usually eliminates, all spousal and survivor benefits that were
line 15 earned from what is deemed by the State of California to be
line 16 community property income; and
line 17 WHEREAS, The Government Pension Offset requires that a
line 18 recipient of benefits report any yearly cost-of-living increase in
line 19 his or her public pension, so that his or her Social Security benefits
line 20 may be reduced by two-thirds of that amount; and
line 21 WHEREAS, The Windfall Elimination Provision cuts earned
line 22 Social Security benefits from work that is separate from the work
line 23 for which the individual earned a pension from a governmental
line 24 entity; and
line 25 WHEREAS, The Windfall Elimination Provision subverts the
line 26 purpose of Social Security retirement benefits by eliminating the
line 27 formula that reimburses low-income workers at a higher rate than
line 28 high-income workers, causing severe hardships for those who have
line 29 not had high-paying public service; and
line 30 WHEREAS, Until 2005, there were no requirements that a public
line 31 employer advise new workers that they would be subject to these
line 32 penalties; now, therefore, be it
line 33 Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
line 34 California, jointly, That the Legislature requests that the Congress
line 35 of the United States enact legislation to repeal the Government
line 36 Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision from the
line 37 Social Security Act, and further requests that President Donald
line 38 Trump sign that legislation; and be it further
line 39 Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
line 40 of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the
AJR 41 — 3 —
line 1 United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to
line 2 the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and
line 3 Representative from California in the Congress of the United
line 4 States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.