The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill that could raise Social Security benefits for tens of thousands of people in Connecticut who worked in public service as well as their families. But as Congress faces a time crunch and a long to-do list, there is an ongoing effort this week to lobby the Senate to vote on it before the end of the year.
The bipartisan legislation would eliminate a pair of provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that reduce payments to certain beneficiaries as well as spouses and surviving family members who also collect a pension from jobs that were not covered by Social Security. That can include teachers, police officers, firefighters and government employees.
The bill got a resounding vote, 327-75, on Tuesday that included support from four of the five Democratic members in Connecticut’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, voted against it because it does not include an offset like in his own Social Security reform bill, which also seeks to remove those provisions. The measure now heads to the U.S. Senate where it faces uncertain prospects with a short window of time to hold votes before the session ends in six weeks.
The Windfall Elimination Provision can lower how much beneficiaries receive from Social Security if they also get pensions or disability benefits from uncovered work. It applies to those who paid Social Security taxes on less than 30 years of substantial earnings, which is currently set at $31,275 in 2024. WEP affects more than 22,000 beneficiaries in Connecticut, with the vast majority of them retired workers, according to December 2023 estimates from the Congressional Research Service.
The Connecticut Education Association argues WEP reductions hurt teachers who worked a second job where Social Security taxes were collected but could see up to half of those benefits reduced in retirement. Connecticut is one of 15 states where WEP applies to teachers.
The Government Pension Offset cuts Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds if they receive a pension from local, state or federal government employment that is not covered. For some who receive a teacher’s pension, the cuts can be larger than their spousal benefits so they essentially receive nothing through Social Security.
“The Social Security Fairness Act will restore Social Security benefits to the three million retired public servants who saw benefits reduced or eliminated by the WEP and GPO,” U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, said in a statement. “This bill will also ensure that Americans currently working in the public sector will receive full benefits in retirement. Repealing the WEP and GPO will create a fairer future for public servants and their families, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to reform and strengthen Social Security for generations to come.”
The “Social Security Fairness Act” from U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., sought to circumvent normal procedures and force a vote on the House floor. The sponsors used a discharge petition where they needed to collect a majority of signatures from lawmakers in order to get a vote on the bill.
They reached that threshold before Congress’ weekslong recess for lawmakers to go home to campaign. When the House met for a proforma session on Election Day, a Republican member presiding approved a motion to table, or kill, the vote, but House Freedom Caucus chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., ultimately moved to undo it earlier this week. House leaders put the Social Security Fairness Act on the calendar by suspending the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for passage. It ultimately cleared that hurdle Tuesday.
Larson, who serves as ranking member of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, has been pushing for more comprehensive reforms to Social Security for years. His legislation, “Social Security 2100 Act,” has support from 188 Democrats, but no GOP co-sponsors. That could become even more challenging next session when Republicans will likely control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Current estimates show the Trust Fund for old age and survivors insurance will be able to pay 100% of Social Security benefits through 2033. After that, it could result in people receiving reduced benefits amounting to about a 20% cut.
Larson’s bill includes the elimination of WEP and GPO as well as an across-the-board hike in benefits by 2%. He noted his own bill would fund the repeal of those provisions through raising the income cap on taxable earnings for Social Security. And he cautioned against supporting legislation that does not pay for those changes.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that if the bipartisan legislation that passed this week was enacted and repealed both provisions, it would cost nearly $196 billion over the next decade.
Others warned against repealing WEP and GPO, especially without an offset, and suggested changing the formula to calculate benefits. A Republican bill called the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act also got a vote on Tuesday night, but failed to clear the two-thirds majority required to pass the House. The entire Connecticut delegation voted against that bill.
“While I am glad to see the House take up the issue of Social Security, we need to take comprehensive action to enhance benefits and extend the program’s solvency, something the United States Congress has not done in more than 50 years,” Larson said in a statement.
“I could not vote for the bills on the Floor tonight because they are not paid for and therefore put Americans’ hard-earned benefits at risk. It would hurt most deeply the five million of our fellow Americans who receive below poverty checks, and almost half of all Social Security recipients who rely on their earned benefits for the majority of their income,” he continued. “I felt it was my duty to protect the benefits of some of our most vulnerable.”
But those affected by the decrease in their benefits argue it unfairly affects many who have worked in public service, like teachers, police officers and firefighters, as well as survivor benefits for those who served in local, state or federal government.
Groups and unions like the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans and the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut have been active on this issue for years.
And lobbying efforts continued this week as attention now turns to the Senate.
Mary Moninger-Elia, a retired public school teacher in West Haven who used to serve as the vice president at-large for AFT Connecticut, had already planned to come down to Washington, D.C., this week for a conference when the House took up the Social Security Fairness Act on its first day back in session since the recess.
She was able to watch from the gallery on Tuesday night with other advocates as the House easily passed the bill. Earlier that day, Moninger-Elia and others passed out flyers on the legislation to nearly all of the House offices. Other advocates from across the country started to lobby Senate offices on Wednesday and she plans to join them on Thursday to reach others.
The Senate version of the bill has bipartisan support and enough co-sponsors that it would overcome the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. Connecticut’s U.S. senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, have both signed onto the bill as co-sponsors.
Moninger-Elia has been working on the issue since 1997, but said her efforts ramped up in 2020 as a part of the National WEP/GPO Repeal Task Force. She has come to D.C. for rallies over the past couple of years in support of the Social Security Fairness Act.
But the legislation will be competing with a number of other priorities in the lame-duck session including government funding, the annual defense policy bill and the Farm Bill as well as judicial confirmations that Democrats are trying to push before Donald Trump retakes the White House and Republicans at least reclaim the Senate and possibly the House. The next session of Congress begins on Jan. 3.
In addition to rallying support, they say the focus will be on trying to get Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to schedule it for a vote before the end of the year.
“We have been over there lobbying this before,” Moninger-Elia said, adding that “the recommendation from one of the senators is it’s up to Schumer.
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
