President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law on Monday, January 6, restoring the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, first responders, and other public servants or their spouses.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Carolyn Colvin requesting that the SSA swiftly implement the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) following the President’s expected signing of the bill on Monday, January 6, 2025. Senators Collins and Brown authored the bipartisan bill.
The SSFA, which overwhelmingly passed the both the House of Representatives and Senate by votes of 327-75 and 76-20, respectively, will restore the earned Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, school cafeteria workers, custodians and other school employees, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public servants by repealing two provisions of current law – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits that public employees or their spouses have earned.
“Across the United States, millions of public servants have had their Social Security benefits cut through no fault of their own. Those who will benefit from the new law have earned these benefits,” the Senators wrote in their letter. “According to the Social Security Administration, in November 2024, more than 650,000 people were affected by the GPO ... [and] more than two million people had their Social Security benefits reduced by the WEP.”
“The President is expected to sign the Social Security Fairness Act into law on January 6, 2025,” the Senators continued. “Following this event, we ask that you swiftly implement the law in order to alleviate any further hardship on millions of Americans who have dedicated their lives to serving our communities.”
The complete text of the letter can be read here.
###