Lawmakers renew battle against pension provisions
Newly introduced bill continues long-running effort to reverse two measures that cut into benefits for employees in older retirement system.
An old fight resumed on Thursday when two House lawmakers unveiled legislation that would ease the burden of two Social Security laws that significantly reduce benefits for some public sector retirees.
The bill (H.R. 235), introduced by Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif., would repeal two provisions in Social Security law -- the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision -- that reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for federal employees who entered the government before 1984 and are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System. Employees in CSRS do not pay into Social Security and receive a government pension instead.
The Government Pension Offset law cuts the Social Security benefits that some employees -- including widows and widowers -- would have received from their spouses, while the Windfall Elimination Provision reduces benefits for public employees who also worked in private sector jobs where they paid into the Social Security system.
The Social Security Administration estimates that 465,000 beneficiaries are affected by the pension offset. Seventy-seven percent are women, 43 percent are widowed and 75 percent have lost their entire Social Security spousal benefit. SSA data also indicates that about 972,000 beneficiaries are affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision.
Various legislators have introduced bills to repeal or modify the two laws with little success, largely because lawmakers have been unable to find a solution to offset the estimated $81 billion price tag of a full repeal.
The bill's swift reintroduction drew praise from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which has lobbied for more than 25 years to repeal the two provisions. The group pledged to work with lawmakers to ensure action on the bill in the 111th Congress.
"The GPO and WEP arbitrarily eradicate the earned Social Security benefits of far too many public sector retirees," NARFE President Margaret Baptiste said on Thursday. "There is absolutely no legitimate reason for one segment of seniors being denied their Social Security benefits for which full Social Security taxes were paid."