On November 20, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a field hearing titled “Social Security’s Disservice to Public Servants: How the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Mistreat Government Workers.” Repealing both the GPO and WEP has long been an FMA legislative priority, and FMA National President Craig Carter submitted testimony for the official hearing record.

The hearing focused on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) as a solution to the issue, a longstanding FMA issue brief. Introduced on January 9, 2023, H.R. 82 eliminates both the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision. Sponsored by Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), the legislation has 300 cosponsors, including 201 Democrats and 99 Republicans. The Senate companion bill, S. 597, offered by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) enjoys similar strong bipartisan support with 49 cosponsors.

"FMA steadfastly opposes both the GPO and WEP and urges a full repeal of both current laws," Carter wrote. "FMA therefore strongly endorsed H.R. 82 upon its introduction and urges its passage into law. This reform is overdue as demonstrated by the overwhelming support by so many in Congress. We applaud Chairman Ferguson for holding this hearing on the legislation and we call for a markup by the full Ways and Means Committee as a next step." To read FMA's testimony, click here.

Following the hearing, FMA Director of Government and Public Affairs Greg Stanford met with staff from the offices of Reps. Graves and Spanberger to discuss strategies and next steps in the ongoing pursuit to repeal the GPO and WEP. FMA will continue to push Congress to eliminate these unfair policies.