Pappas Pushes for Vote on Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Social Security Benefits

Yesterday Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) signed a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans working in public service, including federal employees, police officers, firefighters, and educators.

This bipartisan legislation is currently cosponsored by 327 members, 210 Democrats and 117 Republicans. 

“All hard-working Americans who have paid into a retirement plan, whether it is Social Security or a pension or both, deserve the benefits they have earned. For more than 40 years, individuals who devoted much of their career to public service and contributed to Social Security have had their earned benefits unfairly reduced or eliminated,” said Congressman Pappas. “The Social Security Fairness Act would fix this issue by ending the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. It has broad bipartisan support and I’m pushing for a vote now to right this wrong for our police, firefighters, teachers, postal workers, and all public servants who pay into Social Security and have a pension.”

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.

This bipartisan legislation is endorsed by the International Association of Firefighters, the National Association of Police Organizations, the American Postal Workers Union, and more.