The Social Security Administration (SSA) said that millions of retired workers will get more money from Social Security because of new legislation that has been suggested by both parties.
A bill that would raise Social Security benefits for about three million people has moved to the next step in the legislative process thanks to backing from both parties.
Recent news reports said that Congress successfully moved the Social Security Fairness Act to the floor for discussion on Thursday using a discharge petition.
This is a way for a bill to go from a committee to the floor without a committee report. By closing loopholes, the Social Security Fairness Act would make sure that retirees who get certain government pensions or other benefits can get their payouts.
Biparting support to enable Social Security benefits expansion
The petition was put together by Abigail Spanberger (Democratic) and Garrett Graves (Republican). It got 218 signatures, with 47 Republicans signing and 171 Democrats signing. This means that after seven legislative days, Graves and Spanberger will be able to ask Speaker Mike Johnson to set a floor vote.
While Spanberger and Graves were together, they said, “Today is an important milestone made possible by tireless advocates who made it clear that Congress must act.” This is the first time since 2015 that a discharge petition has been used to move a bill forward.
It would get rid of rules about the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) as part of the Social Security Fairness Act.
The Windfall Elimination Provision cuts Social Security benefits for people who are eligible and have pension income from state jobs where they didn’t pay Social Security payroll taxes, even if they paid into the program in other ways.
His office thinks that the WEP affects around two million Social Security recipients right now. The GPO is a rule that cuts spousal payments for about 800,000 retirees who used to work for the federal, state, or local government but didn’t pay into Social Security through payroll taxes.
The Congressional Budget Office says that if passed near the start of fiscal year 2025, it would cost the Social Security Administration just under $196 billion over ten years. Beneficiaries should be aware of this.
Spanberger and Graves also say that from Virginia to Louisiana and every other state in America, millions of retired government workers have been waiting for more than 40 years for their elected officials to address this basic problem of fairness. These retirees deserve the GPO and WEP to be taken away, as well as the Social Security payments they have worked hard to earn.
How does the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) impact Social Security benefits?
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) could change how Social Security figures out how much to pay you when you retire or become disabled. If your company doesn’t take Social Security taxes out of your pay, your payments may be less than they should be.
There is a chance that this will happen whether you are retiree or disabled. This kind of employer could be the government or a company that works abroad.
If you get a retirement or disability pension from a company that didn’t pay Social Security taxes, or if you get benefits from work that did pay taxes, these things could affect your benefits. You might need the WEP if you turned 62 after 1985 or got disabled after 1985.
If the second option is true, you must have been able to get a monthly salary because of a job where you didn’t have to pay Social Security taxes after 1985. If you have a job, you still have to follow this rule.
People who worked for the federal government under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) after 1956 will also see their Social Security payments change because of this rule.
If you only worked for the federal government through a system like the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), we will not cut your Social Security payout amount. Social Security taxes are taken out of the paychecks of FERS workers.
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