Where is Social Security Fairness now?
There are opponents to Fairness in high places!
In August, H.R. 82 reached the magic number of 290 co-sponsors required to demand a floor vote, but still had to wait 25 legislative days before that could be done.
On Sept.16, the 24th legislative day, the Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee brought the bill up for review by his committee. That action broke the 25-day rule and prevented the mandatory vote.
The Ways and Means hearing presented little of substance, and the bill was sent back to the floor without any guarantee of a vote.
With only one day left before the House recessed for “work in districts” to prepare for the election, Rodney Davis presented a “discharge petition” which, upon reaching 218 signatures, would mandate a floor vote. The trick with the discharge petition is that the House Member must sign the petition on the House Floor during a session of Congress. Since Congress will not be back in session until November 14, nothing can happen on the discharge petition during this time. We can remind our own House Members to sign it when they get back after the election. We will have only from November 14 to the 30th to get the needed 218 signatures on the discharge petition.
WHAT WE CAN DO NOW:
- Show up at campaign stops and demand that any candidate understand how urgent it is to fix these outrageous penalties on seniors who have worked for their communities as police, fire fighters, teachers, clerks, mail carriers, bus drivers and other public servants.
- Talk to the House staff members, both in district offices and in D.C. who are still on the job, since they are not allowed to work for campaigns. They need to fully understand our situation in order to take our calls and emails seriously. Explain the urgency of their member signing the discharge petition.
- Make sure your Senator is among the 40 co-signers of the Senate bill S.1302 by Senator Brown. (Use the link on our homepage to see if both your Senators are already co-signers.) The Senate is also in recess for the election, so, although only a third of members are running at this time, they are involved in campaigns. Call their offices and make friends with their staff members and explain the issue while they are gone!
Do you use Twitter? Join the conversation @RepealWEP_GPO
Active Facebook pages with lots of information are: Social Security Fairness – Repeal the GPO/WEP and the National WEP & GPO Repeal Movement
Our persistence has made a difference. Thank you for Hanging in There!