Our Washington, D.C. Lobbyist, Dennis McGrann, provided the latest update on the Social Security Fairness Act, S.82/S.597. Read the post for more information.
Update On Social Security Fairness Act
The U.S. House sponsors of the Social Security Fairness Act (HR 82) announced plans to force a House “Floor” vote on the bill, called a “discharge petition” in September; read the official press release regarding this update.
A discharge petition needs 218 House Members’ signatures to successfully move a bill to the House floor for a vote. The goal is to garner the 218 signatures as soon as possible once Congress returns and have a vote on the bill in September before Congress adjourns again in October for the elections. H.R. 82 currently has 325 bipartisan cosponsors and the Senate companion, S. 597, has 62 cosponsors.
The Social Security Fairness Act has the support necessary to pass Congress by a vast majority; the goal now is to get the House sponsors and others to sign the “discharge petition” to force Leaders to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote. Michigan bill sponsors Senators Peters and Stabenow, and House sponsors are Reps Dingell, James, Kildee, Scholten, Slotkin, Stevens, Thanedar, and Tlaib.
As you recall the bill (HR82 // S62) would eliminate both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service — including federal employees, police officers, firefighters, and educators.
Posted on July 18, 2024
This legislation would restore full Social Security benefits for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public servants. The legislation would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) from the Social Security Act. Currently, public service employees – such as police officers, teachers, and firefighters – are unable to receive earned Social Security benefits if they are also receiving other forms of retirement benefits, such as a pension. Both bills are some of the most popular in Congress, with 323 co-sponsors in the House and 60 in the U.S. Senate. Both Minnesota Senators’ Klobuchar are Smith are co-sponsors and in the House Reps. Finstad, Stauber, McCollum, Craig, Phillips, Omar, and Fischbach are sponsors.
The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on the bill earlier this year, and most significantly, the Senate Finance subcommittee recently held a field hearing in Ohio. Both committees hold jurisdiction over the legislation, and the hearings mark a significant step towards eventual enactment. Of major importance during the Senate hearing was the announcement that Committee Chairmen Ron Wyden (D-OR) was supporting the bill.
The release below is from the Senate Committee on the hearing and excerpts from Chairman Wyden’s statement. We will continue to update you, and please contact POAM if you have any questions or need additional information.
BROWN HOLDS FIELD HEARING ON RESTORING SOCIAL SECURITY FOR OHIO LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIREFIGHTERS, AND PUBLIC SERVANTS
Hearing Comes Amid New Momentum for Bill Passage; At Hearing, Brown Announced Endorsement of Crucial Senate Finance Committee Chair
COLUMBUS, OH – On June 7, 204, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, hosted a field hearing in Columbus on his bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act – legislation to restore full Social Security benefits for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public servants. This legislation would repeal two provisions of current law that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits that public employees earn.
At the hearing, entitled “Keeping the Promise of Social Security for Ohio’s First Responders and Public Servants,” Brown announced new support for the bill, including the crucial endorsement of Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR). The hearing featured two panels of Ohioans who shared their experiences and how their retirement security is threatened by two old, unfair provisions in the law that unfairly cut the Social Security benefits they’ve earned through years of hard work and service.
Wyden’s Hearing Statement
As Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Chairman Brown, for holding today’s hearing and for all the witnesses for participating. For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a bedrock program on which millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities rely. Over 65 million Americans receive Social Security benefits today, including 2.6 million children. Without these earned benefits, more than 20 million Americans would now be living in poverty, including 1 million kids.
There is no one in the Senate who understands the importance of this program for seniors and people with disabilities better than Senator Brown. He has been leading the charge in the fight to protect and strengthen Social Security for current and future generations of Americans and battling those who want to privatize the program, raise the retirement age, or advance schemes to otherwise cut benefits.
To address the inadvertent windfall, Congress enacted the WEP and GPO provisions in an effort to ensure fair treatment among workers who worked in covered and non-covered employment. However, rather than taking into account workers’ covered and non-covered earnings when calculating the Social Security benefit amount, the WEP and GPO are a “one-size-hits-all” reduction, slashing Social Security benefits by up to 60 percent. These Americans chose a life of service; we should not be unfairly penalizing them.
I am proud to announce that I will be supporting Senator Brown’s legislation, the Social Security Fairness Act, and am committed to working with Senator Brown and colleagues to address this issue while protecting Social Security’s finances.