November 24, 2024 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Daniel Slim | AFP | Getty Images
The Senate is nearing a final vote on a bill that would increase Social Security benefits to an estimated 3 million people.
The House voted Wednesday to continue considering the bill, the Social Security Fairness Act. The bipartisan proposal calls for repealing certain rules that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension income from public sector jobs.
Despite a bipartisan majority of 73 votes to proceed with the bill, efforts to advance the bill have been met with some opposition, with Sen. Thom Tillis, R.N.C. The reason was the associated costs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that repealing the rules, known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), would cost $196 billion over 10 years.
WEP reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension or disability benefits from jobs that do not pay Social Security payroll taxes. GPO reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pension income.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the bill, if passed, would accelerate the bankruptcy deadline for the Social Security Trust Fund by six months. Without this change, Social Security’s trustees predict that the trust fund on which the program relies to pay out retirement benefits will run out in 2033, at which point 79% of retirement benefits will be paid out. I’m predicting.
“We’re about to pass an underfunded $200 billion spending package for a trust fund that is likely to go bankrupt in the next nine to 10 years, and we’re going to have to figure it out unless someone fixes it,” Tillis said. I’m going to act like it’s not going to happen.” Speech in the Senate before the bill’s passage.
Tillis said lawmakers did not consider the 97% of beneficiaries who would not benefit from the bill, but would be harmed by the future impact of passing the bill on the program.
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“Folks, this bill hasn’t even had a hearing in any committee in the House or Senate,” Tillis said.
The Social Security Fairness Act was approved by the House of Representatives in November with the approval of two members, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Democrat of Virginia, and Rep. Garrett Graves, Republican of Louisiana. – Filed a dismissal petition to force a vote on the bill. The Senate’s closed vote to advance to a final vote also limited the Senate’s ability to debate the proposal.
The 27 Senate leaders who voted “no” to bring the Social Security Fairness Act to a final vote are all Republicans, except for independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who represents West Virginia.
The senators who voted in favor of advancing the bill include a mix of Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) and Vice President-elect and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). was included.
“There is no excuse for treating our nation’s public servants this way.”
Leaders who voiced support for the bill on the Senate floor ahead of Wednesday’s vote cited the economic hardships of their constituents as a reason.
As of November, more than 2 million people’s Social Security benefits were affected by WEP, while more than 650,000 people had GPO benefits, according to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), co-sponsor of the Senate bill. It is said that it is influenced by.
Collins said one 72-year-old voter had to go back to work after her husband died because the GPO cut her Social Security widow benefit by two-thirds.
“She no longer had the financial security to continue living in retirement and the GPO penalty left her with little choice but to return to work,” Collins said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) recalled meeting with a former Louisiana schoolteacher in the wake of the GPO, and she couldn’t understand why her Social Security spousal benefit would be reduced. She was crying in the office.
“She felt like she was being punished for educating generations of Louisiana children,” Cassidy said. “There is no excuse for treating our nation’s public servants this way.”
If the Senate passes the bill, it would be a victory for Collins and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who co-sponsored the bill. In his Senate speech Wednesday, Brown noted that Collins has been pushing for reform for more than 20 years. Mr. Brown lost re-election and left the Senate.
Reps. Spanberger and Graves, who introduced the House bill, will also be leaving Congress.
“If you love this country and fight for the people who make this country work, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides to join us and protect us in service. Please restore the Social Security benefits that these people have earned through their lifetimes of work,” Brown said. During his Senate speech Wednesday.
