A House-passed bill that would expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans just got a lifeline in the Senate.
Senate Majority Chuck Schumer said Thursday he would begin the process for a final vote Social Security Equity Lawthat would eliminate two federal policies that prevent some Americans from getting their full Social Security benefits, including police officers, firefighters and teachers.
A living, breathing example is Terry Hoover, a firefighter in Louisville, Kentucky, for more than 20 years. Now retired, he says these two provisions cost his family more than $1,000 a month.
“My Social Security is being cut because of my pension,” Hoover told fellow first responders at a rally earlier this week, as informed by a local CBS affiliate. “And then my wife, she was a nurse for 41 years and she paid into Social Security, you know, and I can’t get a dime from her because of my pension.”
Schumer, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, he tweeted the bill would “ensure that Americans are not wrongly denied well-earned Social Security benefits simply because they chose at some point to work in their careers in public service.” As majority leader, he can invoke a Senate rule that would skip a committee hearing and send the bill directly to a vote by the full Senate.
That’s important, as the clock is ticking on his fate, with just days left until the current session of Congress.
Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that broadly reduce payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
This includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that are not covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and US postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for spouses and surviving family members of these workers. WEP impacts on 2 million Social Security and GPO beneficiaries almost 800,000 retirees
Various forms of the measure have been introduced over the years, but like many legislative proposals, they had not been enacted.
“I’ve been with the league for 25 years and I can’t remember ever not having a version,” said Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League, or TSCL, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting retirement benefits. proposal, which the league supports. “We’re very optimistic,” he told CBS MoneyWatch earlier this month.
The bill had 62 co-sponsors when the Senate version was introduced last year, and would now need at least 60 votes to pass Congress and then go to President Biden.
In a speech earlier this month, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy brought to the Senate word to request a vote in the chamber. “If Schumer brings it up, it will happen,” said Cassidy, among his Republican backers.
Will the Senate approve the Social Security Equity Act?
At least one GOP senator who signed similar legislation last year, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, said he was still “debating” whether to vote on the bill next week. “Nothing ever gets paid, so it’s just another debt, I don’t know,” Braun said, according to the Associated Press.
The opposition includes the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a nonpartisan organization committed to educating the public about issues with a significant impact on fiscal policy. In a statement responding to Schumer’s announcement, the group’s president, Maya MacGuineas, said it was “truly surprising” that lawmakers would consider speeding up the trust fund’s demise.
The measure would increase the burden on the Social Security trust funds, which are already burdened beloved of not being able to pay all of the scheduled benefits from the year 2035. According a the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
“The Senate should reject the repeal of WEP and GPO. Instead, they should come together to try to fix the problems with WEP and GPO as part of a comprehensive package to strengthen Social Security, prevent insolvency and make the program’s finances sustainable over the long term,” MacGuineas urged.
Introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garret Graves, R-La., the bill passed the House on a 327-75 vote last month.
If the Senate doesn’t act, the measure “dies on Dec. 31, at the end of the second session of Congress,” Benton said. “This bill should not only start from scratch, it should be introduced by a new person.”
contributed to this report.