We Want a Senate Vote Now and We Are Still Asking for More Co-sponsors

We need to support the public servants across this country who make America Great!

Rally in DC on Wed. Dec.11: The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has organized a rally at 11:30 AM EST, Upper Senate Park, 260 New Jersey Ave, NW with key stakeholders and presidents from numerous influential organizations.

1. We need to remind our supporters that we want a vote NOW.

Call your co-signed Senators and ask for a vote. Instead of S.597, the Senate will vote on the identical House repeal bill, H.R.82, to save time. Please call and email and tell them to vote for H.R.82.

2. 40 Senators have not signed onto the Senate repeal bill, S.597.

Are your Senators in this group? We need to add new supporters to insure a win for Social Security Fairness.

Here is the information you need to get this done:

Here is a link to Senators who have cosigned the repeal:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/597/cosponsors If your Senator is not on there it may be because your state isn’t impacted. They need to see how the whole country is impacted.

Find contact information for your senators on their websites at https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Please call and email every day. Don’t give up on them just because they have never supported us before.

Call at night and leave a message if they are no longer taking calls in the daytime. Tell them your story.

Send them the information below that explains how really bad the offsets are–they haven’t seen these statements before. (this statement, or part of it, will fit on their comment page)

Why the WEP and GPO Are Really Bad Legislation—

Their flaws cannot be fixed. They must be repealed:

The offsets as they stand were imposed in the 1980s with no in depth study of how they would function or the inequities they would create. The GPO penalty was a political compromise not based on financial information.

These offsets reduce or eliminate all fully paid for Social Security retirement benefits for those affected, including 40% of the nation’s educators.

Both offsets cause greater harm to lower-earning retirees. These include postal workers, school bus drivers, secretaries, clerks, and older retirees with smaller pensions.

They are disincentives for recruiting needed public employees such as police, fire fighters, and teachers. There are personnel shortages in these professions across the country.

The WEP uses a mathematically incorrect formula that has punished retirees for the past 40 years.

The GPO penalty uses only one national formula against pensions that are paid for, taxed, and distributed differently in different states and governmental agencies across the country.

The more you pay into your pension, the more the GPO reduces the Social Security benefit you have otherwise qualified for.

The GPO undermines traditional families where one spouse stays out of the workplace to raise children, to work in a family business, or to provide care for another family member and also later works for years for a governmental agency, earning a non-FICA-coordinated pension. Even with a partial pension, that spouse often loses all needed spousal or survivor benefits.

Many public retirees who lose most or all of their earned Social Security benefits are forced to rely on public assistance agencies to maintain an adequate standard of living.

These benefits were part of the original financial planning for the Social Security system. Reinstating them would represent only a 1.2% increase in retiree outlays every year. Retirees subject to the WEP/GPO are being denied benefits they have fully earned to provide a minimal financial benefit for the Social Security system.

These penalties for workers in our public agencies undermine the strength of our nation. It is time to show support for those who educate and protect Americans and eliminate these insults to their well-being!

Please vote to Repeal the WEP/GPO! Vote for H.R.82 for Social Security Fairness in the Senate now.