A House-passed bill that would extend Social Security benefits to millions of Americans has gotten a lifeline in the Senate.
Senate Majority Chuck Schumer said Thursday he will begin the process for a final vote on Social Security Fairness ActThat would get rid of two federal policies that prevent a portion of Americans from receiving their full Social Security benefits, including police, firefighters and teachers.
A living and breathing example of this is Terry Hoover, who has been a firefighter in Louisville, Kentucky for over 20 years. Now retired, he says these two provisions cost his family more than $1,000 a month.
“My Social Security has been slashed because of my pension,” Hoover told fellow first responders at a rally earlier in the week. informed By a local CBS affiliate. “And then my wife, she was a nurse for 41 years and paid into the Social Security system, you know, and I can't get a dime out of her because of my pension.”
Schumer, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, Tweeted The bill “will ensure that Americans will not be mistakenly deprived of their well-earned Social Security benefits because they chose at some point in their careers to work in public service.” As majority leader, he can invoke a Senate rule that would skip committee hearings and send the bill directly to a floor vote by the full Senate.
This is important, as there are only a few days left in the current session of Congress and time is ticking.
Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – that reduce payouts for roughly 3 million retirees.
It also includes people who draw pensions from state and federal jobs not covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also eliminate another provision that reduces Social Security benefits for surviving spouses and family members of those workers. About WEP 2 million Social Security Beneficiaries and GPOs Approx. 800,000 retired.
Various forms of the measure have been introduced over the years, but like many legislative proposals, they failed to be enacted.
Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League, or TSCL, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting retirement benefits, said, “I've been working at the League for 25 years, and I don't remember ever having a version of ” The proposal, which the league supports. “We are completely optimistic,” he told CBS MoneyWatch earlier in the month.
The bill had 62 cosponsors when the Senate version was introduced last year, and will 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 moved to the senate Platform for calling for voting in the House. Cassidy, one of its Republican sponsors, said, “If Schumer brings it up, it will pass.”
Will the Senate pass the Social Security Fairness Act?
At least one GOP senator, Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, who signed similar legislation last year, said he was still “weighing” whether to vote for the bill next week. “Never got paid for anything, so it's further indebtedness, I don't know,” Braun said, according to the Associated Press.
The opposition includes the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a non-partisan organization committed to educating the public on issues that have significant fiscal policy implications. In a statement responding to Schumer's announcement, the group's president, Maya McGinnis, said it was “really surprising” that lawmakers would consider speeding up the trust fund's demise.
This measure will increase the burden on the Social Security Trust Fund, which is already estimated According to not being able to pay the full amount of defined benefits starting in 2035 To According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add an estimated $195 billion to the federal deficit over a decade.
“The Senate should reject WEP and GPO repeal. Instead, they should repeal WEP and GPO as part of a comprehensive package to strengthen Social Security, prevent bankruptcy, and make the program's finances sustainable over the long term.” Let's come together to try to fix the issues together.” McGuinness urged.
Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garrett Graves, R-La. The bill introduced by the House was passed by the House last month by a vote of 327-75.
If the Senate does not act, the measure “will expire at the end of the second session of Congress on December 31,” Benton said. “Not only will this bill have to be started from scratch, but a new person will have to introduce it.”
Contributed to this report.