Join Our Action During this Recess!
The House and Senate are both out of session until April 9. Reach them while they’re in your state or district! Also have a chat with their office staff during this week and next. We need to make sure they all understand why we MUST have Repeal of the WEP and GPO!
Here’s a three-minute pep talk from Garret Graves, our sponsor. He knows we are out here backing him up! He needs us to tell our Representatives that it is time for the Ways and Means Committee to “mark up” our bill.
Your House Member is probably out in your District campaigning. Your Senators may be out on the stump, too. Even if your Representative and Senators have already signed on, remind them how important repeal is to your well-being. Educate their staffs who are answering the phone!
Call their home and D.C. offices. Comment on their website.
- Check to see if your Representative has signed on: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/82/cosponsors
- Quick link to House Members’ websites where you can comment: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
- Check on your Senator: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/597/cosponsors Have they signed on?
- If you can’t find your Senators’ websites here is a helpful link: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Talk to their staff members if you can’t catch their bosses. Paid government employees working in official offices cannot engage in campaigning, so they should have time to listen to and record your story.
Make your case concise and powerful:
1. Begin your story with a compelling statement
- I have lost more than $100,000 of my earned benefits!
- I worked weekends for the Social Security benefits I need, and now I’m not getting them.
- My husband thought the Social Security he paid for would help me after he died.
- I counted on getting the Social Security benefits I paid for. I was never told that I’d lose hundreds of dollars in benefits every month, instead.
2. Identify yourself as a constituent and explain who you are
- Name and city
- Retired from what public employment
- Years worked in public and private employment or married to a FICA earner
- If you live in a community property state, half the money your spouse earned and paid into FICA was your money also, but now you can’t get it. (AZ, CA, ID, LA, NM, NV, TX, WA, WI)
3. Explain how the offset/s affect you in more detail (keep it to one sentence or just a few)
- State the amount of money you will lose/have lost because of the offsets, AND/OR
Describe the effects on your life:
- Had to sell home and leave friends and neighbors
- Moved in with children
- Had to apply for public assistance
- Still working at age ______
4. Errors by agencies, if applicable
- I was never told about the offsets until _____, so I couldn’t plan.
- The agent at the Social Security office didn’t understand these confusing offsets, so I was overpaid, and now I have to pay Social Security back over the next 3 years.
5. Call them, email them, send a postcard. Demand your earned benefits!
- Congress can fix this and give us what we paid for.
- We need the House Ways and Means Committee to move on our bill!
- It’s way past time to repeal the WEP and GPO! Thank you for keeping up the fight!