Legislators on Capitol Hill are looking to change a Social Security rule that some say leaves public workers, including teachers, firefighters and police officers, in the lurch when it comes to their retirement income. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, has put forward a new version of a bill he has advocated for in the past. Its mission: to replace the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision with a new formula that would protect individuals who have worked in jobs not covered by Social Security.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and ranking member Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, talk before a hearing on on Capitol Hill on May 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Brady, the lead Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, addressed the issue at a committee Social Security hearing last week. "Democrats often cry you don't have a plan," Brady said. "We do. "We start Social Security reform by making sure our teachers, firefighters and police receive the Social Security they have earned, just like every other American worker," he added. The Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, went into effect along with Social Security reform changes that were enacted in 1983. The rule means certain workers who are eligible for Social Security retirement or disability benefits, but who have also worked for employers who don't withhold Social Security taxes, receive reduced benefits. The logic behind the rule is that those workers also receive pensions from their other jobs, often in the public service sector. The WEP has some exceptions. For example, it does not apply to workers who have 30 or more years of substantial earnings under Social Security. It also does not apply to survivors' benefits. Still, the WEP – and the fact that there's a reduction in benefits – is often a disappointment and sometimes a surprise to affected workers, said Monty Exter, senior lobbyist at the Association of Texas Professional Educators. Exter said he hears from teachers "on a weekly, sometimes daily" basis on this issue. Most teachers in Texas do not pay into Social Security while they are educators. But many of them earn income outside of teaching in summer jobs, or if they work in other jobs before or after their careers as teachers, Exter said.