The effort to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) – an FMA issue brief – continues to be a major issue in the 118th Congress. FMA supports the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/ S. 597), legislation that would repeal both provisions. Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) are the lead sponsors of the House bill, while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Senate version. Neither Reps. Graves nor Spanberger will return to Washington, D.C., in the 119th Congress.

H.R 82 now has 322 cosponsors and is the second-most cosponsored bill in the 118th Congress. S. 597 now has 58 cosponsors. Legislators are continuing to work to find ways to lower the cost for this overdue repeal. Earlier this week, Rep. Graves published a video outlining his strategy for moving forward on the issue, and you can view that video here. FMA is working closely with his office.

The Social Security Government Pension Offset law prevents government retirees who receive a government pension, but did not pay into Social Security, from collecting both a government annuity based on their own work, and Social Security benefits based on their spouse's work record. This is unfair to many spouses, especially widows, who often lose the Social Security protection their spouse provided for them. Under current law, a Social Security widow’s benefit is reduced by $2 for every $3 earned if the widow is eligible for a pension based on a public sector job that was not covered by Social Security. According to the Congressional Research Service, as of December 2022, more than 730,000 Social Security beneficiaries had their benefits reduced by the GPO, with 52 percent being widows. No such offset affects spouses receiving pensions from private sector employers.

The Windfall Elimination Provision is another inequity that disadvantages many federal retirees receiving Social Security benefits and a federal pension. It reduces the Social Security benefits federal retirees receive based on the number of years they served in a federal position that did not require their payment of Social Security taxes. According to the Congressional Research Service, as of December 2022, the WEP impacts approximately two million people – roughly 3 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries.