Government affairs

Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) have reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021 (H.R. 82), which would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) titles of the Social Security Act.

Under current law, inclusion of the WEP and GPO in Social Security law have resulted in a benefits formula that significantly disadvantages some categories of federal employees who have a government pension, resulting in decreased or eliminated Social Security benefits.

WEP affects Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) employees by reducing earned Social Security benefits. WEP also reduces the Social Security benefits of Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employees who also receive a public pension from some other job not covered by Social Security. In addition, WEP affects employees who move from a job in which they earn Social Security to a job where they do not earn the Social Security benefit.

GPO affects CSRS employees and spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state or local government employees if the job is not covered by Social Security. GPO currently reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension. H.R. 82 would eliminate both WEP and GPO from the Social Security Act.

Despite consistent bipartisan support, unfortunately, efforts to see this legislation pass into law have been unsuccessful due to the price tag. Nonetheless, NALC will continue to support this important legislation.