This week, the Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82, which repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—both of which reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and federal employees.  Congresswoman Fletcher is a co-sponsor of H.R. 82 and recently supported a measure to force a vote on this bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.  H.R. 82 passed the House by a vote of 327-75-1.

“The Social Security Fairness Act rectifies unfair parts of Social Security law that are long overdue,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “For decades, public servants in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District and across our country who contributed to Social Security throughout their careers and began second careers have been stripped of their retirement benefits.  Those who pay into Social Security should be guaranteed their full benefits upon retirement, but the WEP and GPO created offsets and penalized workers.  That is why I am glad to have helped pass the Social Security Fairness Act to protect Social Security and ease burdens on working families.”

Currently, the WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, educators who do not earn Social Security in public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security have reduced benefits, even though they pay into the system just like others.  Likewise, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees — including police officers, firefighters, and educators — if the job is not covered by Social Security.  The GPO reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension.

The WEP currently impacts approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.  According to the Social Security Administration, 84,898 people in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District rely on Social Security programs.