Bipartisan Push to Vote on Social Security Fairness Act

A bipartisan effort is gaining momentum in the House of Representatives to force a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act, which aims to repeal two rules that reduce Social Security benefits for certain workers and their spouses, widows, and widowers who receive pension income.

• Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) filed a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill.
• The petition currently has 172 signatures out of the required 218 for a vote, including 25 Republicans.
• With 327 co-sponsors, the bill has a good chance of passing if brought to the House floor.

Rules Targeted for Repeal: WEP and GPO

The Social Security Fairness Act aims to repeal two rules that reduce benefits for certain workers:

• Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP): Reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension or disability benefits from employment that did not require them to contribute payroll taxes to Social Security.
• Government Pension Offset (GPO): Reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also have pension income.

Widespread Support for the Bill

The bill has broad support from various organizations representing public sector workers:

• National groups representing police, firefighters, teachers, postal workers, and government employees at federal, state, county, and municipal levels have backed the effort.
• The Senate version of the bill also has 62 co-sponsors.

Challenges in Pushing the Bill into Law

Despite the momentum, experts caution that enacting the bill may not be easy:

• Time constraints: Both the Senate and House have a lot of work to do before the end of the year.
• Concerns about fairness: Simply eliminating the WEP and GPO rules may not make Social Security benefits fairer, as it could result in disproportionately generous benefits for workers who only contributed to Social Security for a portion of their careers.

Proposed Alternatives to Repealing WEP and GPO

Some experts suggest updating the current rules rather than repealing them entirely:

• Updating the benefit formula to prorate benefits based on the share of an individual's lifetime earnings that contributed to Social Security.
• Introducing a new income replacement rate that better reflects total income, including for spousal and survivor benefits.

Cost Implications of Repealing WEP and GPO

Eliminating the WEP and GPO rules would have significant cost implications for the Social Security program:

• The Congressional Budget Office estimates that repealing the rules would cost around $196 billion over 10 years.
• This cost comes at a time when Social Security faces looming trust fund depletion dates.

Ongoing Efforts to Address the Issue

Despite the challenges, lawmakers plan to continue their efforts to eliminate the WEP and GPO rules through the Social Security Fairness Act:

• Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), a co-sponsor of the bill, urged lawmakers and constituents to support the effort, calling it an "inequity that needs to be fixed."
• Supporters argue that the current rules unfairly penalize public sector workers and create financial hardships for retirees.