Historic Win for Public Servants: Social Security Fairness Act Signed into Law
In a landmark move, President Joe Biden has signed the Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan legislation that will significantly boost the Social Security benefits of millions of public sector workers, including teachers, firefighters, and police officers.
A Long-Overdue Correction
For over four decades, two provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – have unfairly reduced Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension or disability benefits from employment where Social Security payroll taxes were not withheld. As of December 2023, these provisions affected approximately 2.75 million Social Security beneficiaries.
A New Era of Fairness
The Social Security Fairness Act repeals these provisions, paving the way for an estimated average increase of $360 per month for affected beneficiaries. This extra income is a significant boost for middle-class households, according to President Biden. Moreover, over 2.5 million Americans will receive a lump sum payment of thousands of dollars to make up for the shortfall in benefits they should have received in 2024.
Implementation Details Forthcoming
While the Social Security Administration has not yet released details on how the benefit increase will be implemented, the impact of this legislation is clear: federal retirees, along with many others, will finally receive the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned.
A Bipartisan Victory
The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the Senate with a 76 bipartisan majority vote and by the House with a 327 bipartisan majority. Advocacy groups who lobbied for the changes have hailed the signing of the bill as a historic move, marking a major victory for public servants who have been unfairly penalized for decades.
A Legacy of Fairness
As the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare noted, this victory is more than 40 years in the making. While celebrating this milestone, we also honor the legacy of those who were impacted by these provisions but are no longer here to witness this change. Their service and contributions will not be forgotten, and we continue to advocate for fairness in retirement benefits for all public servants.
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