gave Social Security Fairness ActThe bill, which passed by a 76-20 vote earlier Saturday, would eliminate Social Security. Provisions Known as the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, and the Government Pension Offset, or GPO, they have been around for decades.
WEP reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension or disability benefits from employment where they did not pay Social Security payroll taxes. The GPO reduces social security for spouses, widowers and widowers who also receive their state pension income. Together, the provisions affect an estimated 3 million people.
The bill had enthusiastic support from organizations representing teachers, firefighters, police and other government workers affected by the benefits cuts.
Before the vote, John Heaton, vice president of policy and programs for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, said, “When you’ve paid into it and benefited from it, you have to pay people for income outside the system. should not be fined.” . “It’s been 40 years of trying to repeal it.”
The bill had bipartisan support. The Social Security Fairness Act passed the House unanimously. 327 Majority In November
The measure passed the Senate after efforts by some Republican lawmakers. Add edits was defeated. It includes proposals to replace Social Security provisions, rather than repeal them entirely or raise the retirement age, to help cover the cost of increasing benefits.
The bill is now going to the President. Joe Biden For his signature.
“Millions of retired teachers and firefighters and letter carriers and state and local workers have waited decades for this moment,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said after the Senate vote. “Thanks to this bill, public retirees will no longer see their hard-earned Social Security benefits stripped from them.”
The amendment proposed to increase the retirement age.
The Social Security Fairness Act will cost Estimated at $196 billion. More than 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
These additional costs come as trust funds rely on Social Security to help pay benefits that already face expiration dates. Trustees of Social Security What has been presented? The program’s trust fund used to pay retirement benefits may be depleted in nine years, when only 79% of benefits may be payable.
Some senators who opposed the Social Security Fairness Act had raised concerns about additional spending pressures on the program.
Sen Rand PaulR-Kentucky, who earlier this week voted against advancing the current version of the bill in the Senate. Recommended An amendment to meet these costs by gradually raising the retirement age to 70 while also adjusting for life expectancy. Social Security’s full retirement age — when beneficiaries receive 100% of their earned benefits — is currently 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
“It’s absurd to consider a proposal that would make Social Security less fair and financially vulnerable,” Paul said at the time. “To offset the damage from this legislation, my amendment to gradually raise the retirement age to reflect current life expectancies would strengthen Social Security by providing nearly $400 billion in savings.”
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Social Security advocacy groups have pushed for broader comprehensive Social Security reform that would use tax increases to pay for benefits to make them more generous.
“We want to help get it done, but our priority was to make it part of a larger Social Security reform,” Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy to preserve Social Security and Medicare, previously said. said Vote
— CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.