Congress passed the Social Security Fairness Act over the weekend. The Senate approved it by a vote of 76 to 20. The House had passed it by a similar margin last month.
Public servants dedicate years of service to improving the lives of their neighbors and caring for their communities. As they retire, they should have full access to their social security benefits. I voted in support of the Social Security Fairness Act to ensure that they do.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) December 23, 2024
Thanks to supporters like @SenatorCollins, retired @IAFFofficial #firefighters and other public employees will now get the #SocialSecurity benefits they earned and paid into.
More from @newscentermaine:https://t.co/dgsjLE17zc
— Edward A. Kelly (@IAFFPresident) December 24, 2024
The legislation will restore full Social Security benefits to about 3 million former state and local government workers, including teachers, firefighters, and police. It also applies to a smaller group of former federal workers. These workers have been receiving reduced Social Security retirement and survivor benefits because they also get separate government pensions.
Great news! The #SocialSecurityFairnessAct passed the Senate, finally sending the bipartisan bill to @POTUS's desk.
This is a big step forward, addressing years of frustration by those who deserve the retirement benefits they’ve worked so hard for.https://t.co/bcgAwjxPNM
— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@chelliepingree) December 22, 2024
The fix will restore their full benefits, but it will cost the Social Security system a considerable amount of money. “So even if you paid into both systems, under current law you stand to lose most of your Social Security benefits.
Senate passes fairness legislation
For more than 40 years, police officers, firefighters & fed employees were denied their earned SS benefits, despite paying into the system.
Proud to vote for #SocialSecurityFairnessAct to end this injustice. Now it heads to @POTUS to become law! https://t.co/OMG8F881v1
— Rep. Darren Soto (@RepDarrenSoto) December 22, 2024
Fortunately, Congress has finally righted this and people will get their full Social Security benefit,” said Daniel Horowitz at the American Federation of Government Employees. However, some experts say the legislation goes too far. “Congress created a very expensive benefit — about $200 billion, did not pay for it, leading to the program becoming insolvent even sooner than it already is going to be,” said Maya MacGuineas at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Social Security insolvency is now projected to occur about six months sooner, meaning Congress will have to either cut benefits or raise Social Security revenue in an estimated 8½ to nine years. Once signed into law, the Social Security Administration will begin the process of recalculating the benefits for the nearly 3 million retirees affected. The effective date of the law has not yet been confirmed, and the recalculating process could take several months due to its complexity.
President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law. He is on record supporting the full repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset that reduced these workers’ Social Security benefits.
