November 06, 2024

Retirees Call on Speaker Johnson to Bring Social Security Fairness Act to the House Floor

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding House Freedom Caucus members’ attempts to try to kill the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82:

“Yesterday while Americans were focused on Election Day, two members of the House Freedom Caucus blocked 2.5 million retired public workers or their spouses from receiving the Social Security benefits that they have earned.

“The bill that Reps. Bob Good (R-VA) and Andy Harris (R-MD) tried to kill has more than 300 bipartisan co-sponsors, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. If they thought no one would  notice, they were sorely mistaken.

“The members of the Alliance for Retired Americans are calling on Speaker Johnson to bring the Social Security Fairness Act to the floor for a vote this month, as planned. This issue affects millions of Americans, and the bill to restore their benefit deserves an up or down vote on the merits.

“The Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82, eliminates the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which unfairly reduce Social Security benefits for public sector retirees who receive a public pension — or the spouse or survivor of a Social Security beneficiary — who worked in a job not covered by the Social Security program.

“The WEP and GPO disproportionately affect lower-income workers and women. As a result, many face economic hardship during retirement.”

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Contact: David Blank, dblank@retiredamericans.org