House moves to get retired civil servants their full Social Security benefits

Public sector retirees who get a pension would reap the entirety of their Social Security benefits, rather than just a portion, according to legislation that cleared the House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote last week.  

The legislation eliminates the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset that prevented public employees with pensions from receiving the entirety of their social security benefits. H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act sponsored by Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) was approved by a vote of 327 to 75. It now goes to the Senate for consideration. 

The two provisions mainly affect civil servants with public sector pension plans who worked a part-time private-sector job in addition to their public-sector job or worked in the private sector for at least 10 years before taking a public-sector job. The loopholes, which became law in the 1980s, reduce the Social Security benefit for that subset of workers even if they had fully paid into Social Security. Around two million workers are affected by these loopholes, according to Spanberger’s office. 

“By passing the Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives showed up for the millions of Americans — police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other local and state public servants — who worked a second job to make ends meet or began a second career to support their families after retiring from public service,” Spanberger and Graves said in a statement after their bill passed. 

 “For more than 40 years, the Social Security trust funds have been artificially propped up by stolen benefits that millions of Americans paid for and that their families deserve. The long-term solvency of Social Security is an issue that Congress must address — but an issue that is wholly separate from allowing Virginians, Louisianans, and Americans across our country who did their part and contributed their earnings to retire with dignity,” they added.

To get the Social Security Fairness Act to a full House vote, Spanberger had to file a discharge petition, a rarely used legislative maneuver that permits lawmakers to bypass congressional committees if a majority of House members agree. The Social Security Fairness Act had been stalled for two years in the House Ways and Means committee by the time Spanberger initiated the discharge petition in September; 218 representatives agreed to the discharge soon after. 

Firefighters, police, teachers support 

Several large and influential unions representing public-sector workers have lobbied lawmakers for years to close the loophole. Evan Davis, the director of government affairs of the International Association of Firefighters, called the WEP and GPO an "egregious denial of benefits for public servants that has to be corrected."  

“Our members didn’t come into public service looking for six, seven figure salaries, they’re not looking to get rich and they’re certainly not looking for handouts here, but it's benefits they've paid for, it's benefits they’ve earned but that are not coming back to them,” he said in an interview on Nov 14. “We’re grateful to both the Republicans and Democrats in the house for taking action and were looking forward to hopefully getting this across the line in the Senate." 

Davis added that reduced Social Security is one of the most common concerns that IAFF officials hear from members, many of whom don’t realize they won’t receive their full Social Security benefits until after they have already retired.  

The IAFF worked with police and education unions to lobby lawmakers to pass the bill, he said.  

“For 40 years, millions of public servants have seen their benefits stolen by a grossly unfair system,” Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement. “Now that the Social Security Fairness Act has passed the House, we are one step closer to fully repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. Make no mistake, this is a remarkable occasion.” 

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the bill “rights a wrong.” 

“When you contribute to Social Security, it should be there for you when you retire. Period,” she said in a statement. “GPO and WEP created offsets and penalized workers. No one who works hard and pays into Social Security should retire and see their benefits slashed. We should always be fighting for solutions to ease the burdens on working families — not creating them. "

Davis said the IAFF has had conversations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about moving the bill forward for a vote in that chamber. Schumer, the New York Democrat, is a co-sponsor of the Senate’s version of the Spanberger and Graves bill, which so far has 62 co-sponsors.   

Edward Kelley, the IAFF’s president, is encouraging members to reach out to their senators and tell them to support the bill. He said it was time for senators “to step up and send this bill to the President’s desk.” 

dfreeman@thechiefleader.com