We are going through a historic milestone, and for the first time, the United States Senate has approved a historic law that will improve the living conditions of millions of retirees. This is the Social Security Fairness Act, which eliminates two rules that unfairly reduced Social Security benefits for public sector workers. Why is this a historic milestone? Stay tuned and we will tell you in detail.
What are WEP and GPO?
Let’s start by explaining what these confusing but important acronyms are.
WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision): This rule affected people who worked in the public sector (without paying into Social Security) and also in the private sector (where they did pay into Social Security). As a result, their Social Security benefits were reduced because, according to this rule, they “already had a public pension” and were not allowed to collect the full amount.
GPO (Government Pension Offset): This rule cut the benefits a surviving spouse could receive from Social Security if they had worked in the public sector. In many cases, the cut is so large that there was nothing left for the recipient.
Who do these acronyms affect?
These rules have been in place for decades and affected (as of this week) millions of people, such as teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers. The main problem for them was that because of these two rules, they could not access all the benefits they had worked hard to earn during all their years of hard work.
Explain to me the importance of this new law:
The Social Equity Act is going to eliminate these acronyms that we just explained. What is this going to mean? Well, it’s very simple. First of all, if you have worked in the public sector, and also in the private sector, you will receive your full Social Security benefits (without cuts as had been done until this vote). On the other hand, if you are the surviving spouse of someone who worked in the public service, you will not have to worry about losing money, but you will continue to get the money that belongs to you!
In total, 2.4 million people will benefit from this change; 2.4 million people will finally see the results of their years of work!
How did the vote go in the Senate?
This decisive moment had 76 votes in favor and 20 against, so it was clear that this measure has great bipartisan support, so, once approved in Congress, it goes to the desk of the President of the Government for his signature to confirm that finally, this measure will change the situation of these former public employees who find themselves in pension limbo. And after many years of fighting, it has finally been achieved.
Has this change of measures had any detractors?
Of course, otherwise we would not be talking about politics. There have been several who have warned that with this change the financial impacts on the pension fund will be more than evident, because, if 2.4 million people are added to the recipients of the benefits of the Social Security pension fund, and, at the moment in which we find ourselves where it is believed that by 2030 the funds could begin to run out…
In this bleak panorama, it is normal that many people oppose it (in the end, the future of all of us is at stake), but, is it not fair for these former officials to collect their full pension? Of course it is, of course, it is necessary that the system be renewed so that it does not pose a problem in the medium-long term with the rest of the retirees.
Although the change is late, it is a long-overdue victory that recognizes the value of those who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities. The suspension of these policies not only repairs a historic inequality, but also reinforces the commitment to honor the work and sacrifice of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and many other public officials who deserve full access to the benefits they have contributed to!