President Joe Biden signed a new measure into law on Sunday that will increase Social Security payments for nearly 3 million Americans, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees. The Social Security Fairness Act aims to rectify a decades-old policy that limited Social Security benefits for those who receive pensions from state or local government retirement programs.
The bill eliminates two provisions—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—which have been criticized for reducing Social Security benefits for people who worked in public service jobs and contributed to both Social Security and a public pension system.
“This bill is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their life to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity,” Biden said during the signing ceremony in the White House East Room. “This is a big deal,” he added, surrounded by bipartisan lawmakers and advocates for retirement reform.
The legislation has been long sought after by labor groups and public service advocates, who argue that the provisions unfairly penalize individuals who worked in public service. According to the Congressional Research Service, about 745,000 individuals had their benefits reduced by the GPO in December 2023, and 2.1 million were affected by the WEP.
With the new law, beneficiaries who were impacted by the WEP could see monthly payments rise by an average of $360 by December 2025. Those affected by the GPO would see an increase of around $700, with surviving spouses seeing a boost of up to $1,190.
The law will apply to payments starting in January 2024, and affected individuals will receive back-dated payments. However, it remains unclear how these adjustments will be processed or if recipients will need to take any action.
Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), celebrated the law’s passage, calling it a correction to a “40-year wrong.” He emphasized the positive impact on surviving spouses of public service workers, particularly in the firefighting community, many of whom were previously excluded from receiving full Social Security benefits.
In his remarks, Senator Sherrod Brown, who spearheaded the effort, noted the importance of the bill for over two million public service workers who will now have access to benefits they paid into during their careers.
While the bill received broad bipartisan support, some Republican lawmakers, such as Senators John Thune and Rand Paul, opposed it, citing concerns about its long-term impact on the Social Security Trust Fund. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the changes could accelerate the fund’s insolvency by about six months, pushing the expected depletion date to 2035.
The law, while a significant victory for public service workers, adds further administrative burdens to the Social Security Administration, which is already facing staffing shortages. The agency, which has been under a hiring freeze, currently employs its lowest staff level in decades despite serving more beneficiaries than ever.
As the future of Social Security continues to dominate political discussions, the new law stands as a critical shift in the debate over fairness and sustainability within the system.