Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and restore Social Security fairness. In addition to the House bill (HR 1795), a bi-partisan group of four Senators, Mark Begich of AK, Susan Collins of ME, Dean Heller of NV, and Elizabeth Warren of MA have introduced the *Social Security Fairness Act of 2013* (S 896) in the Senate, which would also repeal the WEP and the GPO. The GPO reduces or eliminates public employees’ Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. The WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. In the Senate, a bill sponsored by both republicans and democrats expected to be introduced early in May.
Contact your Senators and Representative and ask them to support and co-sponsor these bills.
In a previous edition of the NEA Educational Insider they report that: “GPO and WEP penalize people who have dedicated their lives to public service by taking away benefits they have EARNED. Nine out of ten public employees affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years. The WEP causes hard-working people to lose a significant portion of the benefits they earned themselves.”