From Algonquin Township’s Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky:
Social Security Fairness Act
On January 5th, 2025, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law!
This bipartisan legislation eliminates the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which reduces Social Security benefits for workers who receive a public pension. [Emphasis added.]
The bill also repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which reduces Social Security survivor or spousal benefits for persons whose spouse has or had a public pension. The changes to the Social Security Administration (SSA) calculations made by this legislation will apply to monthly benefits accrued in January 2024 and beyond.
I have been fighting to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) for decades.
Public employees who qualify for Social Security based on their, or a spouse’s, work history should not be penalized by having their earned benefits reduced. As a Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the House Democratic Task Force on Aging and Families, I will continue to fight for policies that support public employees and their families.
This new law involves multiple federal agencies and is a large undertaking by Social Security. Social Security is in the process of creating and implementing the new method of benefit calculation and will not be able to distribute the money owed to those impacted by this legislation until that method is finalized. As soon as this process is completed, those who are impacted by this will see an increase to their current benefits, as well as a lump sum for the retroactive benefits that are due from January 2024 until the time of implementation.
For now, it is my understanding that, as a benefit recipient, you do not need to do anything yet. It is suggested that everyone set up a SSA account on the Social Security website, SSA.gov, so that you are able to stay informed, and I will include updates in my Plans and Pans as l learn more!
