WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Angus King is applauding the long-sought Senate passage of a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will repair social security benefits for more than 2 million Americans who have devoted their careers to public service. The Social Security Fairness Act will eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), added to the Social Security Act in 1983, which unfairly reduce or eliminate earned Social Security benefits for more than 2.5 million Americans including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and federal, state, and local government employees.

The bill, cosponsored by Senator King, passed the Senate in a 76-20 vote and previously passed the House last month in a 327-75 vote.

Currently, the WEP cuts into the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension. For example, public school educators who do not earn Social Security, but who work part-time, or during the summer, in jobs covered by Social Security have reduced benefits, effectively penalizing them for their public sector work. Likewise, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees — including police officers, firefighters, and teachers — if the job is not covered by Social Security. The GPO reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension — often offsetting benefits entirely.

“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,” said Senator King. “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.”

According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the WEP currently impacts more than 2.1 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 750,000 retirees. More than 300,000 American retirees are impacted by both the WEP and the GPO, including more than 21,000 people in Maine.

Senator King has long championed reforms to social security to keep the federal government’s promise to all working Americans. Most recently, he was part of a working group with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy to preserve and protect social security for generations to come as the program is set to go insolvent by 2033 without congressional action — resulting in across-the-board cuts to benefits for all recipients.

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