Social Security Fairness Act would end two 1977 and 1983 rules that reduce payments for millions of people and their spouses GovTrack.us Follow Sep 12, 2019 · 5 min read

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL13)

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Should these 1977 and 1983 rules be eliminated, or do they help save taxpayers money and prevent “double dipping” into the system?

Context

Two changes to Social Security from the ’70s and ’80s reduce the program’s benefits for millions of public sector employees including teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

Both provisions were enacted to prevent so-called “double dipping,” or people receiving Social Security payouts from two different sources. However, over the decades, many in both parties have come to believe their cumulative accidental effect has been to unjustly lower Social Security payments to deserving recipients.

While both provisions are complicated, here’s a short breakdown.

The WEP

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) can reduce your Social Security payment by up to $463 per month under current law. Enacted in 1983, the provision lowers your Social Security payment if you also earned money from another public sector job that was not covered by Social Security.

Here’s an example. Many teachers who aren’t covered by Social Security — as is the case in 15 states — may work summer jobs that are covered by the program. But because of this provision, they are not entitled to receive all of their ostensibly-earned Social Security benefits accrued through that summer job.

Last year, 1.9 million people were affected by the WEP.

The GPO

The Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, affects spouses and widows of some Social Security earners. Essentially, it lowers the Social Security payment for any public sector worker who’s received their pension outside of their program, if their spouse received their pension from inside Social Security.

Here’s an example. Let’s say a teacher in one of those aforementioned 15 states which isn’t covered by Social Security marries somebody whose public sector job was covered by Social Security. Because of this provision, after their spouse dies, they could see a substantial cut in their remaining spouse’s Social Security benefit.

The GPO was enacted after a Supreme Court decision ruled that a man no longer had to prove he was majority-dependent on his wife’s earnings in order to qualify for his deceased wife’s benefits, as had previously been the case. This instantly made hundreds of thousands of men eligible for Social Security payouts they weren’t eligible for before, so Congress made this change to avoid having to raise taxes.

Last year, about 695,000 people were affected by the GPO.

What the bill does

The Social Security Fairness Act is bipartisan legislation would permanently end both of those provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). If enacted, it would take effect in December 2019.

The House version was introduced on January 3 as bill number H.R. 141, by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL13). The Senate version was introduced the next month on February 14 as bill number S. 521, by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

What supporters say

Supporters argue that the legislation’s fix would prevent an income cut for many Americans who help their communities in the public sector.

“This bill ensures that a teacher who spends his or her summers working a second job or a police officer who changes careers after years of service will not face a possible 40 percent reduction in their Social Security benefits,” Rep. Davis said in a press release. “By repealing these outdated provisions that unfairly penalize public servants… we can provide some certainty to retirees while helping to recruit future teachers, firefighters, and police officers.”

“These workers have taught children and kept communities safe, and it’s up to us to make sure law enforcement officers and teachers can retire with their full Social Security benefits,” Sen. Brown said in a separate press release. “It’s not just about the workers — their families suffer the consequences of reduced benefits, too. This small fix will help these workers and their families have the peace of mind that their Social Security benefits will be there for them when they retire from a life of dedicated service to our communities.”

What opponents say

Opponents counter that while the two provisions should perhaps be modified or the numbers adjusted, outright repeal would create an imbalance.

“The original public policy intent of the WEP and GPO is to ensure fair treatment between workers with earnings covered by Social Security and workers with earnings that are not covered by Social Security,” George Mason University’s Mercatus Center senior research fellow Jason J. Fichtner said in 2016 congressional testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee. “It is important to maintain this fair treatment between covered and non-covered workers.”

“Hence, a repeal of WEP and GPO would violate the principles of fairness and equity that these provisions were intended to protect,” Fichtner continued. “It is important to note at this point that eliminating the WEP will only return Social Security to its pre-WEP state and reinstate a windfall for those with both covered and non-covered employment. Hence, repeal is not advised.”

Odds of passage

The House version has attracted 198 bipartisan cosponsors, among the most of any bill so far this Congress: 150 Democrats and 48 Republicans. It awaits a potential vote in the House Ways and Means Committee.

The Senate version has attracted 32 bipartisan cosponsors: 28 Democrats or Democratic-affiliated independents and four Republicans. It awaits a potential vote in the Senate Finance Committee.

Rep. Davis has introduced the legislation in the three prior sessions of Congress: in 2017, 2015, and 2013. It never received a vote, whether the House was under Democratic or Republican control.

However, the number of cosponsors has been growing every time. 2013’s version had 136 cosponsors (96 Democrats and 40 Republicans), then 2015’s version had 159 House cosponsors (120 Democrats and 39 Republicans), then 2017’s version had 195 cosponsors (134 Democrats and 61 Republicans). The current version currently stands at 198.

September 16, 2019 — We misunderstood the amount that WEP reduced Social Security benefits. It’s not $447 a year as we originally stated (for 2018), but $463 a month for 2019. We have updated the article accordingly.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.

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