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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   The House passed the Social Security Fairness Act Tuesday evening in a   
   vote of 327 to 75, bringing the removal of the Windfall Elimination   
   Provision and the Government Pension Offset closer than ever to   
   reality.   
      
   Social Security’s WEP and GPO have been around for decades. The two   
   provisions reduce and in some cases fully cancel out Social Security   
   benefits for Civil Service Retirement System annuitants and other   
   public sector employees who have worked in state and local government,   
   as well as their spouses, widows and widowers.   
      
   The House’s vote came after Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Garret   
   Graves (R-Pa.), the original cosponsors of the reintroduced Social   
   Security Fairness Act, filed a discharge petition in September to try   
   to push the bill toward a vote. About one week later, the petition   
   reached the 218-signature threshold needed to force the bill to the   
   House floor.   
      
   The legislation will “provide a secure retirement to the hundreds of   
   thousands of spouses, widows and widowers who are denied their   
   spouses’ Social Security benefits simply because they chose careers of   
   service,” Spanberger and Graves said Tuesday in a joint statement.   
      
   Through decades of advocacy for a repeal of WEP and GPO, support of the   
   legislation has continually grown. The House’s version of the Social   
   Security Fairness Act gained 330 cosponsors this year, making it one of   
   the most highly supported bills in all of Congress.   
      
   The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which   
   has been pushing for the bill’s passage for years, said the legislation   
   has never before made it this far.   
      
   “The overwhelming bipartisan support for the Social Security Fairness   
   Act underscores the urgent need for this legislation, and with   
   continued advocacy and support, we can bring about the necessary   
   changes to protect the benefits of our nation’s retired public   
   servants,” NARFE National President William Shackelford said in a   
   statement.   
      
   Now the legislation faces its next hurdle: passage in the Senate. The   
   Senate’s companion to the Social Security Fairness Act currently has 62   
   cosponsors.   
      
   “We encourage Senate leadership to build upon this clear momentum,   
   bring our bipartisan effort up for a vote and deliver retirement   
   security to Americans who have earned it,” Spanberger and Graves said.   
      
   Unlike the House, the Senate does not have a discharge petition   
   procedure — the strategy that Spanberger and Graves used to force the   
   floor vote in the House.   
      
   “In the Senate, we have the votes to defeat a filibuster, but it has to   
   be brought to a vote,” John Hatton, NARFE’s staff vice president of   
   policy and programs, told The Federal Drive with Tom Temin. “But   
   somebody may object to proceeding, which could cause a two-week or so   
   delay in getting it through.”   
      
   Federal groups, such as the Federal Managers Association, are urging   
   the Senate to consider the bill before the end of this Congress.   
      
   The legislation will “provide this long-overdue relief for the public   
   servants impacted by the GPO and WEP,” FMA National President Craig   
   Carter said in a statement. “It is time to retire these provisions to   
   the dustbin of history for the good of all civil servants who have been   
   deprived of what they’ve earned for far too long.”   
      
   But at the same time, the Senate is facing “must-pass” legislation this   
   year, including the National Defense Authorization Act and fiscal 2025   
   appropriations legislation, which is likely to take up a good deal of   
   lawmakers’ time and attention.   
      
   Hatton said the biggest challenge for the Social Security Fairness Act   
   is “convincing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other members of   
   Senate that this is a priority that needs to get done now.”   
      
   Some members of Congress have also looked at alternatives to a full   
   repeal of WEP and GPO. A couple of other bills aim to change the   
   benefit calculation rather than entirely revoke the two provisions.   
   Proponents of those bills raised concerns that a full repeal would   
   impact Social Security’s solvency, while reforming the calculation   
   would ensure “equity” between public and private sector workers.   
      
   If the Social Security Fairness Act is enacted, there would likely   
   still be a period of delay before it becomes effective for those   
   impacted by WEP and GPO.   
      
   “The whole thing turns into an operation that Social Security can   
   execute,” Hatton said. “But it’s unclear how long it would take for the   
   implementation.”   
      
   https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay-benefits/2024/11/legislation-to-   
   eliminate-wep-and-gpo-clears-the-house/   
      
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