Post: Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 (H.R. 594/S. 349)

Posted by Effects most teachers' families/needs your support on 7/24/03

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Social Security Fairness Act is needed to rectify the
Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination
Provision. If you live or worked in Alaska, California,
Colorado,Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio,
Rhode Island, and Texas, then the impact of the GPO and WEP
is "primarily felt" in states such as these in which public
employees (like educators) are not covered by Social
Security . Because people move from state to state,
there are affected individuals everywhere. The Windfall
Elimination Provision (WEP) reduces the earned Social
Security benefits of an individual who also receives a
public pension from a job not covered by Social Security.
The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces public
employees' Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by
two-thirds of their public pension.
What are the Government Pension Offset and Windfall
Elimination Provision?
The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces public
employees' Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by
two-thirds of their public pension.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduces the earned
Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives
a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security.
Who do the GPO and WEP Affect?
The GPO affects people who work as federal, state, or local
government employees, including educators, police officers,
and firefighters, if the job is not covered by Social
Security.
The WEP affects people who worked in jobs not covered by
Social Security and in jobs in which they earned Social
Security benefits - such as educators who do not earn
Social Security in the public schools, but who work part-
time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social
Security. The WEP also affects people who move from a job
in which they earn Social Security to a job, such as
teaching, in which they do not.
How do the GPO and WEP work?
The GPO reduces Social Security spousal or survivor
benefits by two-thirds of the individual's public pension.
The WEP reduces the factor by which average earnings are
multiplied to determine Social Security benefits. The
amount of reduction depends on when the person retires and
how many years of earnings he or she has accumulated.
What is the Impact of the GPO and WEP?
Estimates indicate that 9 out of 10 public employees
affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even
though their deceased spouse paid Social Security taxes for
many years. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
the GPO reduces benefits for some 300,000 individuals by
more than $3,600 a year. The GPO has the harshest impact on
those who can least afford the loss: lower-income women.
The WEP causes low-paid public employees outside the Social
Security system, like educators, to lose up to sixty
percent of their Social Security benefits. The WEP also
impacts the teaching profession, as people are less likely
to leave other careers, in which they earn Social Security
benefits, to become educators.
What Can be Done to Address the GPO and WEP?
Congress can pass legislation to repeal both the GPO and
WEP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“My mother had both Social Security
earnings of her own and SS benefits due from my father's
coverage (while she raised five kids before becoming a full
time teacher). Now, every time her TRS increases,
she sees a corresponding drop in her already smallish SS
check. Plus, she's taxed on the TRS amount, which has now
increased. She's losing ground each year.”
So, I suggest you both educate yourself and take action by
doing what she did, namely visiting these two websites:
1) www.nea.org/lac/socsec/
2) www.capwiz.com/nea/issues/alert/?alertid=209
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I don't expect to receive benefits for what I didn't
contribute towards. However, I do object to having the SS
benefits that I contributed toward being reduced or
nullified by state benefits that I also contributed
towards. For example,I worked manual labor jobs and jobs
where I built up SS coverage. Then I became a public school
teacher where I began paying towards building up a state
pension. When I begin drawing my state pension, this amount
will be deducted from whatever SS benefits I'd earned. This
will probably nullify my years worth of SS coverage. That
is not right.
What to do? I educated myself and then I informed my
representatives about what I thought. How? By visiting
congress.org and selecting the Social security issue that
pertained to me under soapbox alert that said:
Public service employees are limited in collecting social
security benefits because they have pensions.

Posts on this thread, including this one

Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 (H.R. 594/S. 349) , 7/24/03, by Effects most teachers' families/needs your support .

Re: Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 (H.R. 594/S. 349) , 9/16/03, by Wake Up, Alaska teachers.

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