A coalition of firefighters, teachers, police officers and other public employees rallied in Washington, D.C. Wednesday asking Congress to remove penalties from Social Security benefit formulas that penalize public employees.
The National WEP/GPO Repeal Task Force hopes to get Congress to move on the issue, and at the rally Wednesday retirees told of the hardships the policy can cause.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)/Government Pension of Offset (GPO) policy was put in place in 1983. It reduces Social Security benefits to individuals who have contributed to both the Social Security system and public pension programs.
The policy can cost a retiree over $6,000.00 a year. Prospective retirees only learn of the amount of their offset after applying for Social Security, and after having annual statements indicating that they would receive the higher amount throughout their careers as public servants, according to the task force.
Eighty-five percent of those penalized are women. They are being penalized, after the death of their spouses, by as much as much as 88 percent of their expected Social Security benefit, forcing them to sell their homes and live out the remainder of their years with incomes below the poverty line, the task force said.
There currently are two bills being considered by the 117th Congress to repeal the WEP/GPO with more than 250 co-sponsors from both parties. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D_RI) and Representatives John Larson (D-CT) and Seth Moulton (D-MA) spoke at the rally in support of repeal.
The Task Force has delivered a petition to Congress calling for repeal signed by 100,000 people to date.
Posted by Fran Fleischer Perry on Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Related Articles
Windfall Elimination Provision Considerations
Plan on Retiring? Firefighters, Pensions, and Social Security