The Senate has overwhelmingly advanced the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill to restore full Social Security benefits for public sector workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers.
In a procedural vote Thursday, the measure passed with a 73-27 margin, indicating strong support for final approval before the end of the week.
The bill, authored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), seeks to eliminate two provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for certain public employees: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The House of Representatives passed the legislation last month with a bipartisan vote of 327-75.
“Social Security is the foundation of retirement income for most Americans. Yet many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants often see their earned Social Security benefits unfairly reduced by two provisions,” Collins said during Senate remarks.
The WEP reduces benefits for individuals who receive pensions from public sector jobs not covered by Social Security. The GPO cuts spousal or survivor benefits for retirees whose spouses receive public pensions.
According to the Social Security Administration, as of November 2024, the WEP affected more than 2 million people, including over 20,000 in Maine, while the GPO impacted over 650,000 beneficiaries nationwide, including 6,000 Mainers.
Collins highlighted the case of Catherine Sjogren, a retired teacher from Bangor, Maine. After her husband, a Navy veteran, died, Sjogren’s widow benefits were slashed by two-thirds due to the GPO. At 72, she was forced to reenter the workforce.
“Our dedicated public servants…should receive the full Social Security benefits that they have earned,” Collins stated.
Brown, who has championed this issue for over two decades alongside Collins, called the long wait “ridiculous.”
“All these workers are asking for is for what they earned,” he said.
The WEP and GPO were enacted in the late 1970s and early 1980s to prevent individuals from receiving disproportionately high benefits when they also had public pensions. However, critics argue that these provisions unfairly penalize public servants who paid into Social Security through other jobs.
“More than 25,000 Mainers dedicated their lives to public service, only to find their retirement benefits reduced by outdated policies,” Collins noted.
Nationwide, the bill would increase benefits for nearly 2.8 million retirees.
Reps. Garrett Graves (R-Louisiana) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia), the bill’s sponsors, successfully forced a House vote earlier this year through a discharge petition, bypassing committee delays.
“Retirees deprived of their hard-earned benefits will be watching closely,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
“You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Brown said. “All these workers are asking for is what they’ve earned.”
How does this apply to widowed spousal support
I worked for five years, as a Navy Dept worker l left because of back surgery and then was fired. Will I qualify for this increase. Then I became a corrections officer for 22 years will I qualify for the increase, my check each month is $258.00 They said my retirement fund from the city was too high. I returned to work. My back hurts me so bad. I am home from work for the last 3 days.