Press Releases

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (LA) and U.S. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA) are leading the bipartisan national effort to fix the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two 1980s-era flawed federal laws can result in massive cuts – including the total elimination – of a retiree's Social Security payments.

Graves and Spanberger are already garnering strong support for H.R. 82 – the Social Security Fairness Act, which would fully repeal WEP/GPO. The bill already has 128 cosponsors in just four weeks. WEP affects two million social security beneficiaries, and GPO impacts 780,000 retirees.

"WEP and GPO only provide a disincentive or penalize thousands of Louisiana's public servants. Our teachers, police officers, firefighters, emergency responders, and other local and state public servants – and their spouses or survivors – have been wrongly penalized. We will keep fighting to get them the full retirement benefits they paid for, including those who have already retired. We're not giving up," Graves said.

"As a Member of Congress representing thousands of federal employees and retirees, I remain committed to eliminating the WEP and the GPO. Last Congress, we saw massive, bipartisan support for delivering this long overdue peace of mind to public servants in Virginia and across the country," Spanberger said. "The Social Security Fairness Act recognizes the sacrifices that come with serving our communities, our Commonwealth, and our country. I want to thank Congressman Graves for his continued partnership on this issue — and I am looking forward to finally righting this wrong and making sure America's federal employees, teachers, police officers, and firefighters receive the retirement security they deserve."

To read the full list of cosponsors, click here.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) is a formula used to reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who paid into both civil service pensions and Social Security throughout their careers. While the WEP was intended to prevent "windfalls," in practice, it unfairly penalizes public servants like firefighters, police officers, and teachers by reducing their retirement checks.

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces the spousal dependent benefits of individuals who did not pay into Social Security themselves by two-thirds of their government pension. In some cases, this results in individuals receiving zero Social Security benefits, even if their spouse paid in their entire working career.

"The WEP and GPO provisions do not eliminate a windfall for workers; instead, they have proved to be a windfall for the Federal government at the expense of public employees. That's not right and it's not fair. It is incumbent on Congress to repeal these inequitable provisions and pass the ‘Social Security Fairness Act,' which will also help to stimulate the economy by putting additional cash in the pocket of retired public employees as they and their families struggle in these trying times," Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police said.

"Thousands of AFSCME members in Louisiana dedicate their careers to public service – corrections officers who keep their communities safe; teachers' aides who help children learn; health care workers who tend to the sick; transportation workers who maintain the roads; and many more. After working hard their entire lives and sending part of their paychecks to the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS), they should all look forward to retiring with dignity. But under current law, these everyday heroes are cheated out of Social Security benefits they have earned, simply because they have a public employee pension. Rep. Graves' Social Security Fairness Act of 2021 (H.R. 82) would finally correct this injustice, repealing the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), ensuring that no one is punished in retirement for the service they've provided during their working years," Lloyd Permaul, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 17 said.

"NARFE has pushed for years to repeal the unfair WEP and GPO penalties. Today, with the support of Reps. Garret Graves and Abigail Spanberger, we continue to build on the momentum created last Congress to do away with these penalties. NARFE knows that an overwhelming majority of Congress understands the inequity placed on our nation's public servants by the WEP and GPO, and we look forward to growing support for the Social Security Fairness Act and the day when NARFE members and all affected by these penalties receive their full Social Security," William Shackelford, NARFE National President said.

"For over 40 years, the GPO and WEP have been harming the retirement security of our nation's public safety officers simply because they chose a public service profession by taking away hard-earned and much needed benefits. While initially meant as a "leveling" response, in recent years the GPO and WEP have been used to prolong the life of the Social Security Trust Fund on the backs of our nation's public servants, who are seeing cuts across the board to their hard-earned retirement benefits. By totally repealing both the GPO and WEP, the Social Security Fairness Act would preserve the retirement security of those who selflessly serve and protect our communities. We thank Congressman Graves and Congresswoman Spanberger for continuing to fight to protect the retirement benefits of our nation's public servants," Bill Johnson, Executive Director, National Association of Police Organizations said.

"The National Education Association supports "The Social Security Fairness Act" (H.R. 82) to ensure that educators and public service workers who are unjustly penalized by the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision are no longer denied the benefits they have earned. We strongly support this bill and urge Congress to pass this bill to right a wrong," Marc Egan, Director of Government Relations, National Education Association said.

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