By Mark Ballard
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
(TNS)
Dec. 11—WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will vote on legislation to repeal two provisions that lower or eliminate Social Security benefits for many former public employees who have paid into the system, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday.
“I am here to tell you, the Senate is going to take action on Social Security,” the New York Democrat, under umbrellas to fight off cold rain, told a labor union rally in a park next to the U.S. Capitol. “You’re going to find out which senators are with ya and which are a’gin ya. I got all my Democrats lined up to support it. I want you to work. We need 15 Republicans. Let’s get them. We’re going to have the vote.”
In Louisiana, the changes would benefit an estimated 90,000 workers.
The House in November voted 327 to 75 to approve HR 82 by U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R- Baton Rouge, and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D- Virginia.
Graves has been waiting for this final “step in the process” to get the legislation approved and sent for President Joe Biden to sign the bill into law.
“Just like weather can’t shut us down, we’re not going to let any obstacle get in our way,” Graves told the crowd during the one-hour rally. “Look, this injustice has been going on for 40 years now. For 40 years your money has been stolen.”
The bill would remove the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset from the Social Security law. Because of the two provisions, teachers, firefighters, police officers, letter carriers and other public employees who receive public pensions see reductions in their Social Security benefits that accumulated when they worked for other employers.
Removing the two curbs would increase benefits for about 2.8 million public employees nationwide.
As head of the Senate, it is up to Schumer to begin the procedures leading to a vote.
The Senate version of the bill has 61 co-sponsors, enough to approve the legislation in the 100-seat Senate.
One of Schumer’s two choices is to attach the legislation to a bill, such as the one dealing with federal spending, that must pass before Dec. 20. Failing that, Schumer could use the rules to circumvent a committee hearing and bring the legislation directly to the Senate floor for a vote.
Schumer didn’t give a timeline, but Congress is scheduled to work until Dec. 20.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Massachusetts, said Schumer promised a vote on the legislation because firefighters, nurses, teachers and other public employees tirelessly lobbied Congress.
“You stood up for yourselves,” Warren told the group. “Fair is fair, and we’re going to get this done.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R- Baton Rouge, did not attend the labor union rally but weighed in on the issue.
“We can repeal WEP and GPO with the Social Security Fairness Act today if the majority leader schedules a vote,” he said. “With time running out, this is more important than voting on a few more ultra-partisan Biden-Harris nominees.”
The provisions were added in the 1980s to shore up Social Security finances. Some retirees from public jobs receive pensions from states and municipalities that didn’t pay Social Security taxes.
The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces Social Security benefits by up to half the pension amount for people receiving pension income from jobs that didn’t contribute Social Security payroll taxes.
The Government Pension Offset reduces benefits for survivors if the spouse had a pension that wasn’t taxed for Social Security. The Social Security benefits can be cut by up to two-thirds of the public employee’s pension.
Removing the two provisions would cost about $196 billion over the next decade. The money would come from the fund that pays Social Security benefits for everyone.
The proposed changes would hasten the insolvency of the fund that pays those benefits. If that happens, which is expected in nine years, benefits would be reduced by 20% to 25% for everyone provided nothing is done to shore up Social Security.
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(c)2024 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. Visit The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. at www.theadvocate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: Benefits, Human Resources, Payroll, Payroll Taxes
