Baton Rouge Reporter

Congressman Garret Graves from South Louisiana has expressed his thoughts on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's decision to schedule a vote in the U.S. Senate for H.R. 82, known as 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," said Graves. He emphasized the efforts made in the House over several years to build support for this legislation, which aims to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). "The heavy lifting is done. The path to victory could not be clearer," he added, urging for the passage of H.R. 82.

At a rally held at Capitol Hill in support of Graves' bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced to attendees, “I am here to tell you that we are gonna call the vote!” He reiterated his commitment by stating, “I am here to tell you the Senate is gonna take action on the Social Security [Fairness Act].”

The background of this legislative effort dates back to January 2023 when Congressman Garret Graves and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act at the beginning of the 118th Congress. In November 2023, they urged a hearing on reforms related to WEP and GPO by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, which took place later that month. A markup session was encouraged in March 2024, leading up to September when a discharge petition forced a vote on H.R. 82 in November; it passed overwhelmingly in the House but awaits further action in the Senate.

Currently affecting approximately two million beneficiaries, WEP reduces benefits for individuals receiving public pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. This includes educators who might work part-time or summer jobs covered by Social Security but still face reduced benefits despite contributing like others do. Similarly impacting nearly 800,000 retirees, GPO affects spousal benefits for government employees whose jobs are not covered by Social Security by reducing survivor benefits significantly if they also receive a government pension.