Obama: I support repealing the GPO/WEP and will work to do so as president.”
For the past three years, LFT and our members have joined forces with union members from other states to pass the national Social Security Fairness Act. That’s the law that would repeal two unfair pension offsets that cut duly earned benefits of Louisiana school employees and other public servants in more than a dozen states.
The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) prohibit public employees from collecting the full social security benefits they are entitled to.
Despite our efforts, we have been unable to muster the necessary majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. But with the changes brought about by the last election, that may be about to change.
During his campaign, candidate Barack Obama said this about the Social Security Fairness Act: "Nobody should be penalized for serving our children, and that's why I support repealing the GPO/WEP and will work to do so as President....the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset have a serious detrimental impact on hundreds of thousands of educators and your spouses. That's why as a Senator I co-sponsored the Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal these provisions....I believe that we have a responsibility to take care of workers who have devoted their lives to public service and that we shouldn't discourage young people from working in these essential jobs at a time when so many teachers are at or near retirement age and we're struggling to replace them."
Already In the 2009 session of Congress, Rep. Howard Berman (D-California) has reintroduced the Fairness Act. The bill is H.R. 235, and it has 195 co-sponsors already.
The Senate version of the Social Security Fairness Act was filed as S. 484 by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D- California), and original cosponsor Sen. Susan Collins, (R-Maine). Like H.R. 235, the Senate bill would completely repeal the GPO and WEP. The Senate bill already has 11 cosponsors.
LFT is surveying our congressional delegation. We will soon let you know which of our senators and representatives favor Social Security Fairness, and give you an opportunity to send them a message in support of the bills.