November 12, 2024

House passes Social Security Fairness Act

Today, in a 327-75 vote, the House passed the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), legislation that would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The WEP and GPO are parts of Social Security law that reduce or sometimes eliminate earned benefits for Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retirees, including letter carriers.

The vote came after a decades long fight to repeal these unjust provisions. The bill, led by Reps. Garrett Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has had broad bipartisan support for years, but leadership from both parties have been hesitant to bring the bill to the floor.

“This is a major win for letter carriers and other federal annuitants who have been victimized by the WEP and GPO for decades,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. 

“We appreciate Reps. Graves and Spanberger’s steadfast leadership and commitment to finally get this bill to the floor, and we commend every House member who voted “yes” on this critical bill.

“With House passage, we are one step closer to finally righting this wrong that impacts so many CSRS retirees. We must keep up the momentum. NALC calls on the Senate to pass the Social Security Fairness Act as soon as possible and send it to the president’s desk.

?“I want to thank every NALC member who lobbied their representative to support H.R. 82. I urge them to keep up the work and contact their senators. It’s time to finish the job.”