A group of politicians from both parties is trying to get rid of rules in Social Security that lower benefits for many Americans who get pensions from certain public service jobs.
If this move goes through, it could have a huge impact on the retirement income of millions of people across the country.
It is the goal of the new law, the Social Security Fairness Act, to get rid of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
People have long said that these rules are unfair because they hurt people who work for the government and their wives by reducing their Social Security benefits.
About two million people will lose benefits because of the WEP, and about 800,000 people will lose benefits because of the GPO.
On September 10, 2024, Representatives Garret Graves and Abigail Spanberger led a discharge petition that got 218 signatures.
This was enough to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote. However, it is still unclear whether the suggested law will be approved in the end.
Understanding WEP and GPO
The WEP and GPO were created in the 1980s to stop people from getting what were called “double benefits.”
They were designed to help people who were qualified for pensions from jobs that were not covered by Social Security but also getting benefits from other jobs.
People with a salary from jobs that did not pay Social Security taxes will get less in Social Security benefits under the WEP, even if they also worked jobs that did pay these taxes.
The GPO, on the other hand, cuts payments for people who get a government pension for surviving spouses and children.
These rules mostly affect people who work for the government, like teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other people who have spent their whole lives helping people.
A lot of the time, these professionals were not given the choice to join Social Security, and the current rules make it much harder for them to get enough money in retirement. This makes things very hard financially for some seniors.
The Social Security Fairness Act
The Social Security Fairness Act would get rid of the WEP and GPO if it passes. This means that everyone would get their full Social Security payments, even if they have a pension from working for the government.
Both Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the isle back the proposal, even though these parts are known to have negative effects. The bill has also the support of labor unions and lobbying groups that speak for public sector workers.
This bill was backed by Representatives Graves and Spanberger, who said, “For more than 40 years, millions of Americans who paid into Social Security during their working lives have been robbed of their retirement benefits.”
“It is not fair to put off dealing with this basic issue for too long.”
Challenges and Prospects
Even though it is getting support, the proposed law faces big problems. The main problem is that it will cost a lot: getting rid of the WEP and GPO will cost Social Security nearly $200 billion more.
Reforming Social Security is always a touchy subject in politics, so the bill is expected to face a lot of opposition.
People who are against the removal say that it could cause new problems and put more strain on a system that is already having a hard time with money.
As things stand, Social Security is expected to run out of money starting in 2035, and higher costs could make these problems even worse.
But people who want to get rid of the WEP and GPO think that the fact that support is growing across party lines shows that more people are realizing how bad they are for seniors.
They also see the current political climate, which puts a lot of emphasis on social and economic justice, as a chance to fix what many people see as the unfairness that these rules cause.
As lawmakers continue to talk about reform, people who have been personally affected by the WEP and GPO are speaking out more and more.
No matter what happens with the Social Security Fairness Act, it has brought a lot of attention to policies that many people think are wrong and keep some seniors from getting the full benefits they deserve.
Also see:-Goodbye to Social Security Cuts – There is a solution, and it seems to be the only option
