Graves Statement on the Pending Senate Vote on H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act'

Graves Statement on the Pending Senate Vote on H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act"

Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) made the following statement regarding Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's announcement today to call a vote in the U.S. Senate on Graves' bill H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act.

"The Senate Majority Leader has called for a vote on our bill H.R. 82 - provided he gets the necessary 60 votes to get it to the floor. More than 60 Senators support our Social Security Fairness Act. In the House we have led the effort for years to build the winning coalition, resulting in the most cosponsored bill - the most popular bill - in the Congress. We defied the odds and fought back sneak attacks to successfully complete a discharge petition that resulted in the first vote in history to repeal the WEP and GPO. The heavy lifting is done. The path to victory could not be clearer. A WEP-GPO repeal could be in the stockings of millions of public service retirees this Christmas. Pass H.R. 82 now!" said Garret Graves.

At a Capitol Hill rally today to support a Senate vote for Graves' bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced to supporters, "I am here to tell you that we are gonna call the vote!" Later in his remarks he added, "I am here to tell you the Senate is gonna take action on the Social Security [Fairness Act]."

Leader Schumer's remarks can be viewed HERE.

BACKGROUND

Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2023 at the start of the 118th Congress. In November 2023, Graves and Spanberger urged the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to hold a hearing on reforms to the WEP and GPO - and a hearing was held later that month. In March 2024, the lawmakers urged the Committee to take the next step to eliminate the WEP and GPO by holding a markup on their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. On September 23, 2024, Graves and Spanberger successfully completed a rarely used discharge petition to force a vote on H.R. 82. On November 12, 2024, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill. Though it has remained in the Senate since that vote, Graves and Spanberger have consistently pushed for a Senate vote on the bill.

Currently, the WEP reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, educators who do not earn Social Security in public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security have reduced benefits, even though they pay into the system just like others. Likewise, the GPO affects the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees - including police officers, firefighters, and educators - if the job is not covered by Social Security. The GPO reduces by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension.

The WEP currently impacts approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.