The future of Social Security has been hanging on the balance for a while now, and finally, after months of discussions, the House is going to try to pass a bill correcting one of the long time issues of the program. The bill, called the Social Security Fairness Act is a bipartisan proposal that will attempt to ensure that workers who are also eligible for other pensions can also collect benefits.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act is a bill that would repeal the so-called “government pensions offset,” or GPO. This is the measure that “adjusts Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits for people who receive “non-covered pensions.” A non-covered pension is a pension paid by an employer that does not withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, typically, state and local governments or non-U.S. employers. […] The GPO reduces the spousal or widow(er) benefit by two-thirds of the monthly non-covered pension and can partially, or fully, offset an individual’s spousal/widow(er) benefit, depending on the amount of the non-covered pension,” according to the Social Security Administration’s website.
The new bill would also eliminate the “windfall elimination provision” or WEP, which is “a formula used to adjust Social Security worker benefits for people who receive “non-covered pensions” and qualify for Social Security benefits based on other Social Security–covered earnings. […] in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.”
The bill was introduced by a Republican, Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana, and a Democrat, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia to great success in the House, with the support of 300 lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Regrettably, the bill stalled for a whole and Rep. Graves and Rep. Spanberger had to use the discharge petition process, collecting the minimum 218 signatures needed from House lawmakers to dislodge the bill from committee and send it to the floor for a vote. This process is not usually used as it is perceived as an affront to House leaders, particularly the House speaker and the majority leader who determine the floor schedule, but in this case House Speaker Jhonson had already backed the bill, so the consequences would not have been as dire.
The bill still has enough support to pass, although it will now need more votes than the simple majority it needed before, requiring a supermajority threshold to be pushed through. Even if it passes in the House, it would still need to clear the Senate, where we do not know if it is supported widely enough to do so, but the measure seems quite popular, and with the backing of so many House members, it could potentially have a fair amount of support.
Should the bill pass, it would then need to be signed by the President of the United States and, if it were signed into law, it would then be applicable to all benefits payable after December 2023.
The impact of the bill on real people
When bills like this one come up, it is sometimes difficult to know how they would affect those they are trying to protect. This is why real life examples such as the following one are so important to consider. For instance, under the GPO, an individual with a $900 spousal benefit from Social Security, who also has a $1,000 non-covered pension, would see their Social Security benefit reduced by $667, or two-thirds the non-covered pension amount. That leaves them with a $233 remaining spousal benefit.
If the GPO measure is repealed, the same individual would be entitled to the entire $900 spousal benefit amount without an offset reduction.
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