The House is expected to try to pass a Social Security-related bill this week to ensure benefits for workers who are also eligible for other pensions, amid calls from far-right Freedom Caucus leaders to derail the effort. Despite a surprising move.
This is a quick turnaround to save the bipartisan effort it took to pass the bill Social Security Fairness ActAt a time when Congress is having a bad post-election period.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
According to the Social Security Administration, the Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the so-called “government pension offset,” or GPO, which reduces Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits for those receiving non-covered pensions. website,
The summary also says the bill also eliminates the so-called “unexpected elimination provision,” which “in certain cases reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension or disability benefits from such an employer.” which has not prevented Social Security taxes.”
Such pensions are paid by employers – typically, state and local governments or non-U.S. employers – who do not withhold Social Security taxes from employees' wages.
“The GPO reduces the spousal or widow (wo)man's benefit of the monthly non-covered pension by two-thirds and halves the spousal or widow (wo)man's benefit of an individual depending on the amount of non-covered pension. may partially or completely offset the pension,” according to SSA.gov.
The bill would repeal the GPO provision and restore full Social Security benefits.
For example, under the GPO, a person receiving a spousal benefit of $900 from Social Security who also has a non-covered pension of $1,000 will have his or her Social Security benefit reduced by $667 or the lesser of two-thirds of the non-covered pension amount. Will be done. This gives them a remaining spousal benefit of $233.
If the GPO measure is repealed, the same person would be entitled to the full $900 spousal benefit amount without any offsetting deduction.
Does the bill have bipartisan support?
Yes, this bill was introduced by Representative Garrett Graves of Louisiana, a Republican, and Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a Democrat, and it has received support in the House. 300 lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have signed it.
Other groups have also supported the bill, such as the National Association of Counties, which represents county governments. that group They say Eliminating GPOs would help county governments recruit workers at a time when many are facing labor shortages.
What happened next to the bill?
To advance the legislation, the bill's sponsors, Rep. Graves and Rep. Spanberger, this fall used a rare successful process called a discharge petition.
He collected the minimum 218 signatures required from House lawmakers to remove the bill from committee and send it to the House for voting.
This move is often seen as an insult to the House leaders, especially the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader who set the agenda of the House.
But Spanberger and Graves – who both did not seek reelection – had nothing to lose. Furthermore, Johnson had supported the bill before becoming speaker.
Did the House Freedom Caucus block the Social Security bill?
The two leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus intervened when the rest of Congress was away from Capitol Hill for Election Day, mostly in home states.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., and former chairman Rep. Bob Goode, R-Va., used a regular pro forma session of the House on Nov. 5 to quickly introduce part of the measure.
Freedom Caucus blocks new spending. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would add about $196 billion to the federal deficit over a decade.
Graves said people are losing a similar amount without restoring full Social Security benefits.
But when introducing the legislation the Conservatives actually overturned its procedural rule, but not the bill itself.
The legislation is expected to move forward with a House vote, possibly in the coming weeks.
Could the Social Security Fairness Act still pass?
Yes, but that said, the path will now be tougher, requiring a supermajority threshold rather than a simple majority as was planned under the rule that Freedom Caucus leaders backed out of.
If it passes the House, it is unclear whether the bill will have enough support to pass the Senate. But the wide margin in the House suggests potentially broad support.
After this it will go to President Joe Biden's desk. If signed into law, the summary says the changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.