Landmark legislation ends unfair Social Security penalties for public employees

After year upon year of an intensive grassroots lobbying campaign, in the final days of 2024, the U.S. Congress finally passed legislation to eliminate the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) Social Security rules, which had for 40 years unfairly harmed public service retirees.

On Jan. 5, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law.  

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition,” Biden said. “Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity. By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors.”

Biden was introduced at the signing by an AFSCME retiree, Bette Marafino, a retired community college professor and a member of Connecticut Retiree Chapter 4, who led a task force that pushed for GPO-WEP’s repeal.

Marafino described how her grandparents’ Social Security benefits kept them out of the poor house, an actual building located a few blocks from their home.

“I think the vision of the people who were there in that poor house motivated me and others on the task force…to help correct the injustice that my fellow public service workers who keep our communities running have had to endure,” said Marafino.

Together, the GPO-WEP provisions unfairly harmed approximately 25% of public employees who had both earned a pension and were eligible for Social Security.

The WEP reduced Social Security benefits by up to 55% for workers who earned a pension from a job in public service but also received Social Security benefits from less than 30 years in a Social Security-covered job. On a similar basis, the GPO similarly harmed spouses of retired or deceased public employees.

The repeal of these provisions means current retirees will finally get the full Social Security benefits they deserve, and current employees don’t need to worry about being unfairly penalized when they retire. 

In a statement, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who was at the signing, said, “Finally, GPO-WEP is gone for good. These outdated rules denied over two million retired public service workers their hard-earned Social Security benefits. With President Biden’s signing of the Social Security Fairness Act, GPO-WEP becomes a thing of the past.”