Bills Introduced to Reform Windfall Elimination Provision, Expand Social Security Benefits for Federal Employees

Several lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would expand Social Security benefits for federal retirees and replace the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces the Social Security benefits of retired federal, state, and local government employees who worked in private sector jobs in addition to a government job.

The Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act, introduced by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), introduces a “public service protection (PSP) formula” to calculate Social Security benefits for federal workers who retire starting in 2022.

A section by section breakdown of the bill explains, “The PSP formula will apply to workers who are receiving a pension based on noncovered earnings and who have less than 30 years of substantial work in Social Security covered employment. Individuals will receive the higher of the two formulas, PSP or the current Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This approach ensures both fairness (an equitable benefit formula based on actual earnings) and protection (no benefit cuts relative to current law) for all public servants.”

The Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act has support from National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), although NARFE expressed a preference for having the WEP eliminated altogether. NARFE National President Ken Thomas said of the bill, “NARFE continues to support full repeal of the WEP, as the status quo has harmed too many hardworking and dedicated public servants for too many years,” Thomas said. “While this bill does not provide WEP-affected individuals the full repeal they are due, it represents a good first step in allowing some relief from this unreasonable penalty.”

Another bill aimed at the same issue, the Social Security Fairness Act, was re-introduced by Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) and would expand Social Security benefits for federal employees by eliminating the WEP and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). There is bipartisan support for this legislation, including from Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) who is co-leading the legislation.

Rep. Spanberger said of this bill, “The Social Security Fairness Act makes sure educators, firefighters, and law enforcement professionals are able to enjoy the secure retirement they deserve. I’d like to thank Congressman Davis for his partnership on this bipartisan bill – and I urge my colleagues to recognize the need to provide financial certainty to public sector employees amid the COVID-19 crisis.”