Federal Managers Association
Press Release
- FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS EFFORT TO BRING FAIRNESS TO SOCIAL SECURITY - September 13, 2024
Alexandria, VA – On Tuesday, September 10, Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) filed a discharge petition to expedite the will of the House and require a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), bipartisan legislation endorsed by FMA, which would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). H.R. 82 has 326 cosponsors and is the second-most cosponsored bill in the 118th Congress. The discharge petition currently has 171 bipartisan signatories and needs 218 to be successful. FMA National President Craig Carter made the following comments on the discharge petition:
“On behalf of the managers and supervisors currently serving or retired from the federal government, and whose interests are represented by the Federal Managers Association (FMA), we are grateful for the tireless work of Reps. Graves and Spanberger to repeal both the GPO and WEP and strongly support the discharge petition they filed this week. I met with staffers from both Representatives in Washington, D.C., this week to thank them personally for their work on a full repeal. Consideration of the Social Security Fairness Act is long overdue, and it is time for the House to take action on a bill supported by 75 percent of the House. A bill with this much bipartisan support – the second-most cosponsored bill in the 118th Congress – needs to have its day on the House floor.
“FMA has long pushed for the repeal of these odious provisions that callously reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of public servants and their beneficiaries. This important bill is needed to prevent the unjust withholding of nearly $200 billion from these civil servants in the next ten years, and it is difficult to put into words the tragedy of the benefits that have been earned but kept from these public servants dating back to the 1980s. Support has never been greater for the overdue repeal of both the GPO and WEP, and it is vital to act now. FMA supports the discharge petition to finally bring the bill to the House floor for a vote and restore the benefits millions of public servants have earned but have been denied.”