November 12, 2024

Retirees Applaud House of Representatives’ Passage of Social Security Fairness Act

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding House passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82:

“Tonight the U.S. House of Representatives voted to correct a serious injustice involving Social Security benefits that has been a problem for decades. Retirees congratulate lawmakers on taking this much needed action.

“The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) 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.

“By passing H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, the House voted to fix two unfair provisions that are currently being used to calculate benefits.

“The GPO and WEP cause an unnecessary hardship for 2.8 million retired and disabled Americans. It is fundamentally unjust that public employees who earned Social Security credits and benefits through non-government employment cannot receive the full benefits from their work.

“Many Alliance members and other retirees are seeing their Social Security benefits reduced by hundreds of dollars a month. The economic harm to their quality of life cannot be overstated.

“The House took the first step in fixing these unreasonable provisions. Now we need the U.S. Senate to follow suit and pass the Social Security Fairness Act as soon as possible.”

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Contact: David Blank, dblank@retiredamericans.org