CEA-Retired member Jon-Paul Roden serves on the NEA-Retired Executive Council and travels to Washington, D.C., regularly. During his visits he meets with members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation and their staff to advocate about issues that impact both retirees and public education, including GPO-WEP.
Hundreds of thousands of educators, police officers, fire fighters, and other public service employees lose the Social Security benefits they’ve earned or have them significantly reduced due to two federal offsets known as the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This loss of benefits is a real blow to many public service employees, and NEA has long advocated repealing GPO-WEP.
Recognizing and respecting the contributions of educators and other public employees, a group of Senators last week came forward to cosponsor legislation that would eliminate the unfair penalties attached to public service. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME), along with original cosponsors Sens. Blumenthal (D-CT), Baldwin (D-WI), Franken (D-MN), Heller (R-NV), Hirono (D-HI), Murkowski (R-AK), Reed (D-RI), Udall (D-NM), Vitter (R-LA), Warren (D-MA) and Whitehouse (D-RI), introduced the Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 (S. 1651), previously introduced in the House (H.R. 973) by Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
This legislation would repeal GPO-WEP—provisions that penalize people who have dedicated their lives to public education and other public service careers by taking away benefits they have earned. The House version of the bill currently has 107 cosponsors, a larger number than has ever signed on before to support this critical legislation.
Most of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation has already signed on as cosponsors of this legislation, however Senator Chris Murphy and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s names are missing from the list. Please email them and ask them to support the Social Security Fairness Act of 2015.
Read more about GPO-WEP and how it affects educators from EdVotes.org.
Reblogged this on alldaykindergarten and commented:
This would be wonderful for all public employees who had jobs before or after teaching!
If only this happened. I lose almost $500 after working as an educator for 31 years and at a part time job to put my sons through college and help me support myself as a divorced Mom. I lose 60 percent of my EARNED Social Security. I’m still working a part-time job after retiring and STILL PAY INTO SOCIAL SECURITY! Please let them pass this act and help all the other professions that are cheated out of their full Social Security in the 10 states that have this unjust law.
Please Repeal GPO/WEP. This needs to be taken care of immediately! People who worked for the Government and many other jobs serving the public deserve the respect and recognition for their dedicated years of service. We are counting on your support to get this done. Do the right thing and we will all sleep a lot better at night not having to worry about how we are going to keep a roof over our head, pay utilities, buy food and pay for our medications in our senior years. The time to act is NOW! Urgent attention and swift action are the key. Senators, Congress and most importantly, President Obama, “Our futures are in your hands”.