Where We Are and What Comes Next for WEP/GPO Repeal
The House:
- There are currently 304 bi-partisan co-signers on H.R.82, the full repeal bill in the House of Representatives, including George Santos and others who may no longer be in Congress. We have more than the 290-member super majority needed to demand action on our bill. We continue to add co-signers to strengthen our case.
- In November, the chair of the Ways and Means Committee held a Field Hearing in heavily impacted Louisiana, where a teacher, firefighter, and government clerk described the financial losses they are suffering in retirement because of the offsets.
- The sponsors of our repeal bill have asked the Ways and Means Committee for a mark-up of the bill, the next step before actually bringing the bill to a floor vote. We echo the sponsors’ request.
The Senate:
- We have 50 co-signers on the Senate bill S. 597: 7 Republicans, 3 Independents, and 40 Democrats. A bill needs 60 votes to pass and getting the next 10 or more co-signers will be a challenge.
- In 26 states, substantial numbers of public employees are affected by the offsets, and most of their Senators have already signed onto the repeal bill. Federal employees, including mail carriers, work in every state. We need to present our compelling case to convince non-signers that the offsets hurt public workers across the nation.
Our next move for WEP/GPO Repeal: A major lobby week February 5th-9th!
Coordinated actions every day!
The National WEP/GPO Repeal Task Force and its support teams from Social Security Fairness, CalRTA, and the National WEP-GPO Repeal Movement Facebook Page will be sponsoring a nationwide push to remind legislators of the inequities of the offsets and to get them to co-sign the repeal bills if they have not and to insist on progress if they support us.
We will send you more information and tools in the next two weeks. Pushing coordinated action for a mark-up and a vote on the repeal bills is our best chance for progress. In the meanwhile, please see our “Connect” page to sign onto the twice-weekly CalRTA easy lobby emails. If you are on Facebook, sign onto our affiliated National Movement FB page.
We have support! Leaders of organizations whose members are affected by these unfair laws speak out at the summit meeting in Washington D.C. in September. Check out this short video of their comments: