Senator Collins Receives Fraternal Order of Police Advocacy Award

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins was presented with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) National President’s Legislative Advocacy Award at a ceremony that took place at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington. The FOP recognized Senator Collins with this award for her more than two decades of work to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) with the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA), which was signed into law last month. This is the first time the FOP has awarded a Legislative Advocacy Award. After the SSFA was signed into law, the FOP sent a letter on behalf of its more than 377,000 members to Senator Collins, thanking her for her leadership on the bill.

“Receiving this award from the Fraternal Order of Police was a great honor, and I am thankful for the FOP’s steadfast support in the fight to repeal the WEP and GPO,” said Senator Collins. “Repealing these unfair provisions was a great victory for all public servants, including the brave men and women who make up our country’s law enforcement. In Maine and throughout the United States, we are fortunate to have so many law enforcement officers who are devoted to keeping our communities safe, and I was proud to lead the effort to restore their well-earned retirement benefits.”

“Senator Collins, you have been the lead Republican in the Senate on this bill for more than 20 years and we so very grateful for your leadership and support. Your efforts finally paid off as you worked the bill through the Senate’s often arduous process. Your tenacity and commitment will change the lives of public employees and their families,” said FOP National President Patrick Yoes. “Because of your work, nearly three million law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and other public employees who earned themselves a Social Security benefit, only to see those benefits reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision, will finally begin to receive every penny that they earned.  Because of your work, families impacted by the Government Pension Offset which reduced or, in most cases, eliminated the survivor’s benefit received by surviving spouses, will finally be able to collect what they are owed. We owe you a debt of gratitude and are pleased to present you with the National President’s Legislative Advocacy Award.”

The SSFA, which Senator Collins coauthored with former Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, restored the Social Security benefits for millions of public servants, including law enforcement officers, by repealing two provisions – the WEP and GPO – that unfairly reduced the Social Security benefits that public employees or their spouses have earned. Following the passage of the SSFA, Senators Collins and Brown sent a letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA) requesting that the SSA swiftly implement the Social Security Fairness Act.

Senator Collins held the first Senate hearing on this policy in 2003 as Chair of the Senate Government Affairs Committee. She, along with the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, first introduced the Social Security Fairness Act in 2005. 

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