The House-passed Social Security Fairness Act has rare bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, yet its chances of being enacted are diminishing with each passing day.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold a vote on the bill that would expand Social Security benefits for about 2.8 million retirees. Schumer, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, could invoke a Senate rule that would skip a committee hearing and send the bill straight to a floor vote by the full Senate.
The legislation would eliminate a provision that cuts Social Security payments for some retirees who also collect pensions from jobs not covered by the retirement program. This includes state and federal employees such as teachers, police officers and U.S. Postal workers. It would also eliminate another provision that reduces Social Security benefits for surviving spouses and family members of those workers.
“With only eight legislative days remaining in the 118th Congress, Senator Schumer, the cosponsor of Senate Bill S.597, must step up and take action now. Now is the time for him to follow through and bring it to the House for a vote. ” Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), told CBS MoneyWatch on Friday.
“The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)” penalize families across the country who have had a separate pension for some portion of their careers, Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy told colleagues earlier in the week. Took public service job with. , When those workers “take another job, pursue another career or get married, they get less from Social Security than if they had never worked in public service. That's not right.”
in an emotional mood speechCassidy called on Schumer to schedule a vote, saying lawmakers would approve the legislation.
“If Schumer brings it up, it will pass,” Cassidy said of the bill, which has 62 cosponsors.
A similar argument was made by New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who held a press conference late last month conference To urge passage of the measure. “Retired teachers and firefighters deserve access to the Social Security benefits they have earned. That's why I'm working to repeal provisions that unfairly reduce Social Security benefits for public servants. Let's Get it done!” Gillibrand too Posted On social media.
Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garrett Graves, R-La. Introduced by, the bill was passed by the House on November 11 by a vote of 327–75.
The next day, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins wrote letters to Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, urging action.
“You have the opportunity to bring this bill across the finish line,” he said in a letter.
Various forms of the measure have been introduced over the years, but like many legislative proposals, they failed to be enacted.
“I've been in the league for 25 years and I don't remember ever having some version of this,” Benton said. “There's so much momentum, if it's not passed now, a lot of people will lose hope.”
Schumer did not respond to requests for comment.
“His office will probably say something about not having time because of confirmation hearings, etc. We say, 'Add a day to the schedule.' It's been done before,” Benton said.