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If you or your spouse pay into Social Security, you should have full access to the benefits of the program later in life. That’s a basic premise of the program, and that is how a fair system should work.
For decades, however, that is not how the system has worked for a select group of people. Ironically, and frustratingly, it has often been public servants like teachers and public safety workers who have seen their benefits decreased under a pair of Social Security provisions known as the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.
The aim of these decades-old provisions may have made sense in theory, to account for workers receiving pension funds in cases where an employer doesn’t withhold Social Security. Essentially, this was an attempt to prevent a sort of double windfall of benefits. But that supposed “windfall” has proven to be imagined, and the complicated formulas involved have proven to be a dizzying bureaucratic mess that unfairly penalizes public service.
So it was welcome news that Congress overwhelmingly passed the Social Security Fairness Act recently, and that President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law on Monday. This will be a long-awaited win for many public sector retirees who have spent careers giving back to their communities.
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins co-authored the bill with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The Senate passed the bill on Dec. 21 by a margin of 76-20, and the House of Representatives passed it 327-75 in November. The soon-to-be law’s success is a testament to the power of persistence and bipartisan coalition building, both from the people impacted by these provisions and by the lawmakers who have heard their concerns.
“Social Security is the foundation of retirement income for most Americans. Yet many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants often see their earned Social Security benefits unfairly reduced by two provisions: the so-called Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset,” Collins said in Dec. 18 remarks on the Senate floor. “According to the Social Security Administration, in November 2024, more than 2 million people, including more than 20,000 in Maine, had their Social Security benefits reduced by the WEP. Similarly, more than 650,000 people were affected by the GPO in November of 2024, including more than 6,000 in Maine.”
Collins plans to be at the expected bill signing on Monday, according to her office. Maine independent Sen. Angus King, an original cosponsor of the bill, also plans to attend the ceremony, his office said.
“Across Maine, firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public servants put the well-being of our communities first; it’s past time they receive the benefits they so rightly have earned,” King said in a Dec. 21statement. “Today was an important step towards correcting this injustice — demonstrating how lawmakers can put people over politics to achieve real results. Thanks to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for supporting our public servants and voting for the Social Security Fairness Act. I look forward to keeping the momentum going so we can finally save social security for all Americans.”
In her Senate floor remarks, Collins further explained the way these provisions have unfairly impacted people across the country. And she highlighted the experience of a woman here in Bangor.
“Let me give you one example. Catherine Sjogren from Bangor, Maine, told me about having to reenter the workforce at age 72 after retiring from teaching for many decades,” Collins said. “Her husband, a Navy veteran, paid into Social Security for 40 years. When he passed away, the GPO reduced Catherine’s widow benefits by two-thirds. She did not have the financial security any longer to remain retired, and the GPO penalty left her with few choices but to return to work. Our dedicated public servants, such as our teachers who help prepare our children for future success, or our police officers and firefighters who help keep our communities safe, should receive the full Social Security benefits that they have earned.”
People like Sjogren have earned those benefits, and they have earned passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. President Biden can finalize this well-deserved step forward by quickly signing the bill into law.
