Senate has 6 weeks to vote to lift Social Security for public workers. Will it? – USA TODAY

November 21, 2024

Public sector workers are nervous in the hope that the Senate will pass a bill within the next six weeks that would allow them to receive the Social Security benefits they feel they are entitled to.

It was passed by a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Social Security Fairness Act Eliminates the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which reduce Social Security benefits for certain retirees who also receive pension income. The bill currently awaits a vote in the Senate for a chance to become law, but it has until Dec. 31 to become law.

Together, WEP and GPO affect nearly 3 million Americans, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, and public school teachers.

“Over the past 50 years, billions of dollars have been withheld from public servants who received both public pensions and Social Security benefits,” said the man, who worked in California for 30 years before moving to Idaho to work in the private sector. Rafael Sanchez said. Join the sector and pay social security for three years.

How do WEP and GPO affect Social Security benefits?

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) Cut Social Security for people who receive so-called “non-qualified” pension income from jobs that don't contribute Social Security payroll taxes, typically public sector roles. The reduction amount can be significant and can be up to half of your pension amount.
Government Pension Offset (GPO) If the pension does not apply, survivor benefits and spousal benefits will be reduced. Few people will be affected by the GPO, but their Social Security benefits will be cut by two-thirds of their pension amount. If two-thirds of your state pension exceeds your Social Security benefits, your benefits could be zero.

Policy experts say the rule is aimed at preventing Social Security from paying too much to people who work in jobs that don't qualify for pensions. People who have income outside of Social Security may appear to be low-income.

Social Security replaces a higher percentage of low-wage workers' prior income than high-wage workers, so people who have received a healthy government salary for decades are considered less likely to be treated as low-income workers for many years in Social Security calculations. (Supporters of this rule) argued that this would put them in the same advantageous position.

Are WEP and GPO unfair?

Some critics say the provision unfairly penalizes people for taking public sector jobs.

Sarah Fisher, 65, took early retirement at age 44 to buy out her 25-year career in federal court. This was 11 years younger than the minimum retirement age, so she knew she wouldn't receive her full pension, but that was okay. Fisher said she knew she would eventually get another job in the private sector and enroll in Social Security, receiving monthly benefits based on what she paid out of her paycheck.

She was wrong. Because of WEP, her monthly Social Security check will be about $600, she said.

“Based on what I earn and what I pay into Social Security, I don't expect Social Security to pay me any more than someone who worked for 11 years would receive.” said Fisher, who works part-time as a legal. Detroit, Michigan.

But, she added, “What WEP is saying to people like me is that based on how much you pay into Social Security and how much you pay in the years you contribute to Social Security, you receive… It doesn't matter to us whether you're entitled or not.' We're going to cut your Social Security check because you were a government employee. period. That's the only reason. ”

To make matters worse, Bill Callahan, 67, a retired teacher from Middlebury, Conn., says he also loses his annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) when his Social Security benefits are cut.

“Our COLA is determined after deducting either GPO or WEP, which means we are losing money every year,” he said.

Rather than applying the COLA to the approximately $839 in Social Security benefits Callahan would have received without the WEP, the COLA is based on the amount after the $480 WEP deduction, he said. In 2025, you'll receive a 2.5% increase to $359, or less than $9 per month.

This is less than half of the $21 he would have received if COLA had been applied to his pre-WEP benefits, and the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B in 2025 is less than the $21 he would have received in 2024. The price increased by $10.30 from $174.70 to $185.00.

“When you play this with a 20-year COLA, it stinks,” he said.

Can you afford to get rid of WEP and GPO?

The Social Security Fairness Act is Cost: $196 billion The bipartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) said it would accelerate Social Security bankruptcy by about six months over the next 10 years and increase the amount of automatic benefit cuts if that happens. .

“These regulations are not perfect. There are many of ideas to reform them” CRFB President Maya McGuineas said in a statement. “But eliminating them completely would be going in exactly the wrong direction.”

the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, considered center-left; I proposed a proportional formula It calculates Social Security benefits based on income earned from jobs paid to Social Security and does not accelerate bankruptcy.

For example, if 75% of a person's income comes from these jobs, that person receives Social Security benefits equal to 75% of the amount they would receive if all their income came from those jobs. It will be.

Will the Senate pass the Social Security Fairness Act?

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet voted on the bill, which only runs through the end of the year. The Elderly Citizens League stated:a bipartisan senior citizens group. If not, the bill would be invalid and lawmakers would have to rewrite a new bill.