Council Supports Social Security Fairness Act

During this week’s Council meeting, the Council adopted a resolution introduced by Councilor Louijeune and co-sponsored by Councilor Weber, expressing support for the Social Security Fairness Act.

The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/S. 597) is a bipartisan bill introduced in the 118th Congress and recently passed by the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to repeal both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), thereby restoring full Social Security benefits to public employees.

The WEP reduces Social Security benefits for public employees who receive pensions from non-covered employment, causing some workers to lose up to 55% of their earned benefits.

The GPO disproportionately affects lower-income and widowed public employees by reducing or eliminating Social Security spousal or survivor benefits, with 96% of those impacted being women.

According to the resolution, “These provisions unfairly penalize approximately 25% of public workers nationwide, many of whom worked in both covered and non-covered employment and planned their retirement based on the promise of Social Security.”

The resolution further states, “Social Security is one of the most successful government programs in U.S. history, providing critical retirement, survivor, and disability benefits to millions of Americans and serving as a lifeline for vulnerable populations.” The Council officially expressed support for the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82/S. 597), advocating for the repeal of both the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset to ensure equitable treatment and retirement security for Boston’s public employees.