Four of Connecticut’s five congressional representatives – John Larson, 1st District, Joe Courtney 2nd District, Rosa DeLauro, 3rd District, and Chris Murphy, 5th District -- are among more than 100 legislators who are co-sponsors of a new bill to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO)) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Jim Himes, 4th District, is expected to sign on soon.

The new bill, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2009, is part of NEA’s campaign to eliminate the GPO and WPO. It was introduced when the 111th Congress convened in early January.

The new bill number is H.R. 235. The previous bill, which had over 300 cosponsors, expired at the end of the last Congress.  The immediate reintroduction of the bill demonstrates the strong support and importance the issue has for many congressional representatives. A Senate version is expected to be re-introduced shortly. NEA's current focus is on eliminating these "offset" provisions that remain on the books even though they have the unintended consequence of dramatically and unfairly slashing the retirement benefits of tens of thousands of Americans -- teachers and other public school employees, firefighters, police, social workers, and other civil servants -- who are being penalized for their public service.

The GPO and WEP were adopted by Congress in 1977 and 1983, respectively, out of congressional zeal to reduce federal budget deficits at the time and as a quick solution to pension "double dipping" abuses. Their unintended consequences have been victimizing relatively low-paid public servants ever since.In brief, here's how these provisions work. Social Security law prevents "dual entitlement"-- or receipt of full Social Security and spousal benefits at the same time. In 1977, Congress began treating government pensions, such as those earned by educators, as Social Security benefits. The effect of this change was a dollar for dollar reduction in Social Security survivor benefits for anyone also earning a public pension.In 1983, Congress amended the GPO to a two-thirds offset. The WEP was enacted in 1983 to prevent people with relatively high-compensated government service and relatively low-paying Social Security-covered employment from having their Social Security benefits determined under the more favorable formula used for retirees with the lowest Social Security earnings.In practice, however, both provisions are hurting those who can afford it least and are now exacerbating what is widely acknowledged as a national teacher shortage growing to crisis proportions.Record enrollments in public schools and the projected retirements of thousands of veteran teachers are driving an urgent need for teacher recruitment. Critical efforts to reduce class sizes also necessitate hiring additional teachers. The GPO and WEP are impacting the recruitment of quality teachers to meet these urgent shortages. At the same time that policymakers are encouraging experienced people to change careers and enter the teaching profession, individuals who have worked in other careers are less likely to want to become teachers if doing so will mean a loss of Social Security benefits they have earned.

For more information on this issue, visit the NEA Legislative Action Center at www.nea.org.