US Congress passes law to boost Social Security benefits for public servants

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A new bill on its way to President Biden's desk will boost the Social Security benefits for thousands of retired cops, firefighters, teachers and public servants in Texas. The new bill, called the Social Security Fairness Act, will abolish two policies that have blocked benefits for some Texans.

The change affects people who are eligible for a government pension program who also worked in another job that contributed to Social Security or whose spouse had a job that contributed to Social Security.

The bill gets rid of the Windfall Elimination Provision, which "reduces benefits for retired or disabled workers who have fewer than 30 years of significant earnings from employment covered by Social Security if they also receive pensions on the basis of noncovered employment,” according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The other policy being cut by this bill is known as the Government Pension Offset. The CBO says it "reduces the spousal or surviving spousal benefits of people who receive pensions on the basis of noncovered employment."

Maggie Allen, a retired paraprofessional who worked in the legal field before working 18 years at Leander ISD, is ecstatic after Congress passed the bill. Allen said she retired in 2020 and became very confused by what benefits she would be losing.

When she worked in the legal field she was paying into the Social Security program, but then started paying into the pension program at LISD. The WEP is preventing her from receiving her full Social Security benefits, and on top of that, she is missing out on $400 each month from her late husband's benefits as well, thanks to the GPO.

"I worked for that money. I worked many years. My husband — that's what gets me — they've taken so much of his benefit that he worked for," Allen explained. She said she has been able to make ends meet, but she knows of many friends who have been struggling because of the policies currently in place.

If signed into law by President Biden, the new rules would apply to all benefit payments made in the past year.

Critics of the bill say it costs too much money. The CBO estimates it will cost nearly $200 billion over the next decade and speed up the insolvency of the program's trust fund by six months. The Social Security trust fund is predicted to be insolvent by 2033.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke during debate on the bill last week. He said he agrees the WEP formula has short-changed many retired cops, firefighters and teachers, but believes the action Congress took went too far. He would rather see reform in the policies that is less expensive.

"But do so in a way that is fiscally responsible and that doesn't hurt every single senior in America," said to his colleagues on the Senate floor.