Senate Leader Vows Action on WEP/GPO Repeal But Time Is Short

The pressure is mounting to get the Social Security Fairness Act through the U.S. Senate before the end of the congressional session. If it’s not passed, the bills dies, and the process must start from scratch.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he’s committed to having a vote on the legislation which would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) and currently has 62 sponsors in the Senate.

“The Senate is going to take action on Social Security … I’ve got my Democrats lined up to support it. We need 15 Republicans — let’s get them — and we’re going to have the vote. What’s happening to you is unfair, un-American and I will fight it all the way,” said Senator Schumer at a recent rally with federal labor groups, who urge action with the clock ticking.

“I worked and paid into Social Security from 1969 until about 2018,” said Don Hillbish, a retired police Sergeant from Reading, Pennsylvania to USA Today. After “WEP and GPO, my monthly benefit went from $1,100 to about $350 because I collect a municipal pension.”

House Approved the Bill, Sponsors Leaving Congress

The House passed the legislation after it was pushed to the floor on a discharge petition spearheaded by sponsors Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Garret Graves (R-LA), both of whom are leaving Congress at the end of the year.

WEP reduces the amount of Social Security benefits that certain public employees such as teachers, law enforcement, and firefighters receive, by reducing the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security.

GPO reduces by two-thirds benefits to surviving spouses who also receive a pension from a government job.

But not all Republicans are on board, potentially putting Senate passage in doubt.

Some groups, like the Concord Coalition, point out that a repeal would cost the federal government about $196 billion, and that WEP and GPO are just aimed to duplicating rules that apply to everyone else.

"Non-covered workers are not being singled out for unfair treatment," the coalition said in statement, arguing that repeal would lead to "an unearned windfall for workers who would end up getting more and paying less than others.”