We have a NEW Senate Bill: S.1302
Brown and Collins Reintroduce Bipartisan Social Security Fairness bill in the Senate!
On Thursday, April 22, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) led a bipartisan group of their Senate colleagues to re-introduce the Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Here are links to ask your Member of Congress and your Senators to sign onto this bill and the House bill:
H.R. 82 (link to house.gov) S. 1302 (link to senate.gov) You can check at the bottom of this Alert to see if your Senator was an original co-signer.
Both of the statutes significantly reduce benefits for more than two and a half million Americans, many of which are teachers, police officers and state, county and local government workers.
“These workers have dedicated their careers to serving our communities, and it’s up to us to make sure they can retire with their full Social Security benefits,” said Senator Brown. “This small fix will help teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees and their families have the peace of mind that their Social Security benefits will be there for them when they retire from a life of dedicated service.”
“Public servants from across the country, such as retired teachers and police officers, have dedicated their professional careers to public service, yet many face reduced retirement benefits due to the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision,” said Senator Collins.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), enacted in 1983, reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government for employment not covered by Social Security. (currently affects nearly 2 million retirees)
The Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, reduces or eliminates Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who receive even partial pensions from a federal, state, or local government. (Affects more than 700,000 retirees, 83% women, 71% lose ALL benefits)
Together, these provisions reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for teachers, police officers, fire fighters, mail carriers, prison guards, librarians and school bus drivers and many others.The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal both the WEP and GPO statutes, ensuring that public sector workers and their families receive their full Social Security benefits.
Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Susan Collins of Maine are the original sponsors, and here are the co-sponsors who signed on the first day. If your Senators are on there, click on the link and thank them!
This bipartisan legislation is supported by a number of national organizations, including Social Security Works, AFSCME, National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National Active and Retired Federal Employee Association, the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, International Union of Police Associations, National Association of Police Organizations, and the Fraternal Order of Police.