U.S. Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Ron Estes (R-KS) are seeking information from the Social Security Administration commissioner on how beneficiaries will receive their benefits from two repealed programs.
Specifically, Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, is referring to the SSA’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which have been repealed.
Smith and Estes, chair of the Social Security Subcommittee, is asking the SSA to provide Congress and the public with clear guidance on how it will deliver immediate relief to those who have been impacted by the WEP and GPO.
“The Committee on Ways and Means has devoted significant time and attention to examining the WEP and GPO, two flawed policies that impact the Social Security benefits of millions of public servants throughout the country, including holding two hearings on these provisions during the 118th Congress,” Smith and Estes wrote to SSA Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin. “While the Social Security Fairness Act did not benefit from the technical refinements that result from committee consideration, its passage is a clear, bipartisan, and overwhelming representation of the will of Congress. As such, we are committed to ensuring that the Social Security Administration (SSA) implement the law as quickly and as smoothly as possible to provide needed and timely relief to those who have been unfairly harmed by these policies.”
The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) was signed into law on Jan. 5, repealing the WEP and GPO, effective December 2023. WEP and GPO were enacted into law in 1983 and primarily affected state and local government employees, like teachers, police officers, and firefighters, and federal government employees who received a pension based on earnings that are exempt from Social Security payroll taxes.
WEP reduced the benefits of certain beneficiaries who are entitled to both Social Security benefits and pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security. GPO was intended to replicate Social Security’s dual entitlement rule for benefits earned from contributions made to a Social Security substitute plan.
The lawmakers also asked Colvin to provide details on how the SSA will ensure beneficiaries receive the proper benefits they are owed without delay and without imposing an undue burden on those affected by the change in law.