Costa Pushing Legislation to Guarantee Full Social Security Benefits for Police Officers, Firefighters, and Public Servants

WASHINGTON – Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) and the Problem Solvers Caucus are backing the Social Security Fairness Act to ensure that American public servants and their families receive full Social Security benefits. Costa is a cosponsor of the bill. 

The Social Security Fairness Act would eliminate both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans, including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public servants who have dedicated their careers to serving their communities. 

"For decades, the Windfall Elimination Program (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) have undermined the retirement security of millions of teachers, law enforcement, and public servants. That is why, I am pushing for the Social Security Fairness Act to fix this long-standing inequity. All Americans deserve to receive the benefits they have earned and deserve." said Costa. 

BACKGROUND

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 educators, police officers, and firefighters — if Social Security does not cover the job. The GPO reduces the benefit by two-thirds to surviving spouses who collect a government pension. 

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

In November 2023, Costa and over 100 colleagues urged the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to hold a hearing on reforms to the WEP and GPO — a hearing was held later that month.