Social Security bill headed to House floor

This week, TCTA sent a letter to 13 Texas Congressional members urging them to sign a discharge petition on the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 to send it to the House floor for a vote. Shortly after, the petition had reached the number of signatures necessary to require the vote. 

The bill, House Resolution 82, would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) that impact Social Security benefits for teachers and other state employees.

On. Sept. 10, U.S. Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Tom Graves (R-LA) filed a discharge petition to force a House floor vote on the bill before the current Congressional session ends. A discharge petition requires the signatures of at least 218 lawmakers, and by Thursday, Sep. 19, that number was reached. TCTA sent the letter to the Texas Congressional members who signed onto HR 82 as co-sponsors but had not yet signed the discharge petition, urging them to further their support of teachers. See a joint statement from Graves and Spanberger here.

There is another House bill on WEP, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2023 (H.R.5342) that provides revised calculations for reforming rather than repealing WEP, and does not address the GPO. This version has 36 co-sponsors and would have less of an impact on the solvency of Social Security overall.

In the Senate, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to immediately put their bipartisan companion bill [S. 597] on the Senate floor for a vote as well. 

TCTA will continue to monitor proceedings in Congress and push for a repeal of the WEP and GPO.

Click here for more information on the WEP and GPO.