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On Saturday, the U.S. Senate voted 76-20 to pass the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, who said it would address “horrendous inequity” in the distribution of Social Security funds. Last month, the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 327-75.
The bill is specifically designed to repeal two statutes — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce payouts to individuals who receive government pensions not covered by Social Security. Those individuals include state and local police, firefighters, teachers, bus drivers, and other public sector workers and their spouses.
However, Senators Katie Britt, R-AL, and Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, were among the minority who voted against the bill’s passage.
“The WEP and GPO are flawed, but the ‘Social Security Fairness Act’ is far from fair, nor is it accurate or fiscally responsible,” Britt said in an official statement.
“I voted against this roughly $200 billion bill because it would accelerate the insolvency of the Social Security Trust Fund and provide Social Security benefits that were not paid for by the beneficiaries. I was disappointed Senator Cruz’s amendment failed, which would have helped fix WEP in a fairer manner,” she continued. “It is crucial we meet our obligations to the hardworking families and retirees who have paid into Social Security for generations to come.”
Britt’s comments align with the Congressional Budget Office’s projections that the legislation will add $196 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years and accelerate Social Security’s projected insolvency by six months.
Interestingly, President-elect Donald Trump recently made comments indicating that he would be in favor of eliminating the national debt ceiling — a policy move that directly opposes the so-called “fiscal responsibility” which Britt and Tuberville — both staunch Trump allies — claim to support.
Before the Social Security Fairness Act was passed, Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, proposed an amendment that would offset the legislation’s added costs by gradually raising the retirement age from 67 to 70 over 12 years. That amendment was rejected by all but three senators, with both Britt and Tuberville voting against Paul’s proposal.
However, Britt and Tuberville did vote in favor of a separate amendment introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, which would have increased monthly payments for those affected by WEP by $100 to $150 every month. Cruz’s amendment would have also based future retirees’ earnings off of their individual earnings over their entire career with a proportionate benefit based on what they paid into Social Security. Cruz’s amendment also failed to pass.
Unlike Britt and Tuberville, other Republicans like Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA, supported the legislation. In explaining his decision to support the bill, Cassidy cited his former high school civics teacher, Ms. Betty, whose Social Security benefits were greatly diminished when she was widowed because of the Government Pension Offset.
“When her husband passed away, her husband worked at [an] Exxon refinery … her Social Security was cut to a fraction because she had worked in the public sector as a teacher,” Cassidy said, explaining that his former teacher would have received better retirement benefits “if she had never worked at all.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, the bill’s Democratic sponsor, provided another anecdote about a bus driver for disabled children in Lawrence County, Ohio. Despite providing a critical public service for 40 years, her Social Security benefits would be reduced from $2,100 a month to $500 a month under current law.
Edward Kelly, the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, praised the bill’s passage as a victory for public servants.
“Congress broke a promise 40 years ago to millions of Americans when it enacted the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset,” Kelly said. “Today, U.S. senators from both parties joined to right that wrong, ensuring that retired fire fighters and other dedicated public servants get the Social Security benefits they’ve paid into and earned.”
President Biden is expected to sign the Social Security Fairness Act into law before he leaves office.
