Huge victory for teachers as Congress repeals WEP/GPO

In the final hour of the 118th Congress, the U.S. Senate delivered an early Christmas present to teachers, passing the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) that limit Social Security benefits for public servants. The 76-20 vote early Dec. 21 gave public school educators, police officers, firefighters and other public sector employees a victory after more than four decades of trying to repeal the WEP and GPO.

Legislation to repeal the WEP and GPO has been reintroduced each Congress for decades but had not received a vote in either chamber until this year. The bill was sent to President Joe Biden for his signature just before the Senate recessed for the year after also passing a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14 and averting a shutdown.

While some Republicans objected to H.R. 82’s nearly $200 billion price tag, senators easily defeated four proposed amendments, ultimately passing the same version of the bill that garnered broad bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives, which approved it 327-75 in mid-November. The two Texas senators were divided on the issue, with Sen. John Cornyn voting for the bill and Sen. Ted Cruz voting against.

With final passage, retired educators with a TRS pension who also receive Social Security benefits from other jobs or as surviving spouses, or whose survivor benefits were eliminated by the GPO, will benefit from the legislation. The Congressional Budget Office estimated more than 273,000 Texans are impacted by the repeals: 57,455 had been penalized by the GPO, 169,678 by the WEP and 46,021 by both.

H.R. 82 should take effect early in 2025, increasing benefits payable for January 2024 and later. The CBO expects the higher benefits owed for the months before enactment will be paid retroactively mostly in fiscal year 2025, with some paid in fiscal year 2026. 

UPDATE: President Biden signed H.R. 82 into law on Jan. 5, clearing the way for Social Security checks to be recalculated for the 2.5 million Americans affected by the WEP and GPO. In the coming weeks, beneficiaries should start seeing higher checks.

You can click here for the latest information from the Social Security Administration.