The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), FMA-endorsed legislation that would eliminate the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), has cleared a hurdle and could be considered for a vote on the House floor.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), now has more than 290 cosponsors. House rules allow a member of Congress to file a motion to place their legislation on the Consensus Calendar if it has at least 290 cosponsors for 25 legislative days. H.R. 82 has achieved that milestone, and Rep. Davis filed the motion to bring the bill up for a vote on the House floor. Rep. Davis has introduced similar legislation in many sessions of Congress, and this is the most progress the bill has ever gained. FMA has steadfastly supported the repeal effort for many years.

In a statement, Rep. Davis said “The Social Security Act as it exists today unfairly penalizes millions of public service workers, including police officers and firefighters, who paid taxes into the system during their careers. These unfair and egregious provisions in Social Security must be repealed.” FMA agrees completely with Mr. Davis. To read his full statement, please click here. Congressman Davis summarized the two offending provisions this way:

“WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, educators who do not earn Social Security in the public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security have reduced benefits even though they pay into the system just like others. WEP also affects people who move from a job in which they earn Social Security to a job, such as teaching, in which they do not.

“GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees – including educators, police officers, and firefighters – if the job is not covered by Social Security. GPO reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension. Nine out of 10 public employees affected by GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years.”