The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that implementing the Social Security Fairness Act, which aims to increase benefits for certain workers, is facing delays. The measure, designed to end the windfall elimination provision (WEP) and government pension offset (GPO) that reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people, will benefit workers whose jobs were not covered by Social Security. The law increases explicit benefits for teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states, federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, and individuals whose work was covered by a social insurance system of another country.
Despite efforts to implement the law quickly, the SSA cites funding and staffing shortages as significant obstacles. Due to these constraints, the agency revealed that it might take over a year to adjust benefits and pay retroactive amounts. As the SSA deals with the increased workload, all Social Security beneficiaries, even those not directly affected by the new law, might experience longer wait times.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in December by former President Joe Biden, aims to eliminate federal policies that prevent employees with a public pension from collecting their full Social Security benefits. This change will also affect the benefits of these workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The impact on benefits will vary: some people’s benefits might increase substantially, while others might see only minor increases.
The law stipulates that all applicants must keep their personal details updated and present necessary documents to prove eligibility.
Social Security Act faces setbacks
While the SSA is working to resolve these issues, the reality is that many American workers will have to wait more than a year to benefit fully from the Social Security Fairness Act.
This delay is mainly due to funding issues and a hiring freeze that has been in effect since November 2024, intensifying the agency’s staffing challenges. Retired Middlebury, Connecticut, school teacher Bill Callahan has waited 40 years for the reduction in Social Security benefits he receives due to his pension to be eliminated. Callahan and about three million other affected public sector workers will have to wait another year or more before seeing the benefits promised by the Social Security Fairness Act.
A frustrated Callahan, 67, commented, “At the end of the day, it will turn out to be a temporary fix for three million citizens. The Congress will devise another poorly conceived fix, and another group will become the new pariah.”
The delay in paying the additional Social Security benefits is attributed to a lack of funding and staffing. “SSA’s ability to implement the law in a timely manner and without negatively affecting day-to-day customer service relies on funding,” the agency said.
“The Act did not provide money to implement the law. Helping people with this new and unfunded workload is made more difficult by SSA’s ongoing staffing shortages, including operating under a hiring freeze since November 2024.”
Nearly three million Americans will have to continue receiving the same Social Security benefits as if the bill never passed. Additionally, all Social Security beneficiaries, including the other roughly 68 million Americans, “will face delays and increased wait times as SSA prioritizes this new workload,” the SSA added.
The wait continues for affected public workers, who anticipate adjustments to their Social Security benefits promised by the new law.
