December 21 (UPI) — The United States Senate passed legislation early Saturday that will enhance Social Security benefits for millions of public-sector workers. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The Senate approved the Social Security Fairness Act, 76-20, which would repeal two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers, and others with public pensions, from receiving full Social Security benefits.
In November, the House voted 327-75 to pass the bill.
The Senate conducted its first hearings on the issues in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said after the bill was approved at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
“Millions of retired teachers, firefighters, letter carriers, and state and local employees have been waiting decades for this day. Thanks to this bill, public retirees will no longer have their hard-earned Social Security payments taken away.
The Senate concluded its current session.
The two policies to be removed are the Windfall Elimination Provision, which affects 2 million pensioners, and the Government Pension Offset, which affects 800,000.
WEP cuts up to half of Social Security benefits for those with “non-covered” pension income. The occupations are primarily public-sector positions that did not pay Social Security payroll taxes.
GPO) decreases surviving or spousal benefits when a person’s pension is not insured. It reduces Social Security benefits by two-thirds of the pension amount. If two-thirds of the pension exceeds the Social Security payment, the amount may be lowered to zero.
“You shouldn’t penalize people for earning income outside of a system when you’ve paid into it and earned that benefit,” said John Hatton, vice president of policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, ahead of the vote. “It’s been 40 years trying to get this repealed.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Act will increase federal deficits by $195 billion over a decade.
The Social Security Trust Fund, which pays retirement benefits, may be drained in nine years, leaving only 79% of benefits due.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, presented an amendment to offset costs by progressively extending the retirement age to 70 and adjusting for life expectancy. The full retirement age for Social Security, at which beneficiaries get 100% of their earned benefits, is now 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
“It is absurd to entertain a proposal that would make Social Security both less fair and financially weaker,” Paul was saying at the time.
“To undo the damage made by this legislation, my amendment to gradually raise the retirement age to reflect current life expectancies will strengthen Social Security by providing almost $400 billion in savings.”
