Senators voted 73-27 to approve a motion to proceed with consideration of the Social Security Fairness Act, according to an unofficial Senate tally shown in a webcast on the floor of the chamber.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members.
The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
“Obviously I am concerned about the long-term solvency of Social Security and that is an issue I think we need to address.”
A significant procedural barrier was overcome in the United States when legislation was passed to extend Social Security benefits to millions of Americans. S. . Senate on Wednesday afternoon, and with just a few days remaining in the current congressional session, it is now on its way to a final vote.
A webcast on the Senate floor revealed an unofficial Senate vote of 73-27 in favor of approving a motion to move forward with consideration of the Social Security Fairness Act.
“We will vote on taking up the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal flawed policies that eat away at the benefits of those who’ve worked as teachers, firefighters, postal workers, or public sector workers,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media just prior to the vote. “Those who are denied their hard-earned benefits as retirees will be closely observing.”. “.”.
In order to remove two federal policies that deny millions of Americans—such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and others with public pensions—their full Social Security benefits, the Democrat from New York has pushed to have the bill put to a full vote.
The foundation of our middle class is Social Security. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber prior to Wednesday’s vote, “You earned it, you paid into it for forty quarters, and it should be there when you retire.”. “These workers only want what they were paid. “.
A retired teacher sobbed in his office, “not understanding why she was getting less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all,” according to Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. “,”.
Sen. Speaking against the measure, Thom Tillis stated that although a small number of people do not receive their full share of Social Security benefits, implementing what he described as an unfunded government mandate that would raise the federal deficit “is not the way to fix it.”. “.”.
The Republican from North Carolina also stated, “This bill will take $200 billion out of the Social Security trust fund over the 10-year period without any way to pay for it.”.
The Social Security Fairness Act: what is it?
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two federal programs that drastically cut benefits to almost 3 million retirees, would be repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act, which has been in the works for decades.
Teachers, police officers, and U.S. military personnel are among those who receive pensions from state and federal jobs that are not covered by Social Security. S. . postal workers. . A second clause that lowers Social Security benefits for the surviving spouses and family members of those workers would also be eliminated by the bill. About 800,000 retirees and 2 million Social Security recipients are impacted by the GPO and WEP, respectively.
Brown said of the procedure, “This stuff takes time, but 21 years is ridiculous.”. In 2003, the Senate held its initial hearings on the policies.
The bill was introduced in the Senate last year with 62 cosponsors and passed the House in November. But in recent days, the bill’s bipartisan support began to wane as some Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism about its high cost. The proposed legislation would increase federal deficits by an estimated $195 billion over a ten-year period, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Last year, at least one Republican senator endorsed similar legislation, Sen. According to Indiana Senator Mike Braun, he is still “weighing” whether or not to support the bill. The Associated Press reported last week that Braun stated, “Nothing ever gets paid for, so it’s further indebtedness, I don’t know.”.
The new Republican leader, John Thune, stated at a press conference on Tuesday that “individual members will ultimately have to decide where they want to come down on that.”. “I think we need to address the issue of Social Security’s long-term viability, which is obviously a concern of mine. “.”.
The bill would have to be reintroduced in the following Congress if the Senate did not approve it.
