President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, starting 2025 by increasing benefits payments for millions of retired Americans.

The bill eliminates the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) as well as the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two rules that had previously reduced Social Security benefits for those who spent all or most of their careers in public service and received other retirement benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government.¹

“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. It’s retirement security that Americans pay into and earn over a lifetime of work – and count on to be there for them when they retire,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) who cosponsored the bill in the Senate alongside Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). “Social Security should be available to everyone, including local police officers, sheriffs, deputies, firefighters, teachers – and their families.”²

Who is impacted?

Previously, if you’ve been a public sector employee during your career, your Social Security and retirement planning would look different than those who’ve spent their working years exclusively in the private sector. Private sector employees have a percentage of their paycheck go toward Social Security with the expectation of receiving those Social Security benefits later in life. But, if you have worked in a public sector job your retirement package may not work quite the same way.

Congress passed the WEP to prevent workers who receive non-covered pensions from receiving higher Social Security benefits as if they were long-time, private sector earners, and the GPO to ensure that spousal benefits of those with covered or non-covered lifetime earnings would be roughly equal. 

The Windfall Elimination Provision applies to most teachers and public sector employees who receive both:

• A pension from a job where they did not contribute to Social Security, and 

• Social Security benefits based on fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings in covered employment or self-employment.

In short, it limits the Social Security benefits you can claim if you worked in both the public and private sectors over the course of your career.⁴

The Government Pension Offset, on the other hand, reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own. Meant to reduce “double dipping,” the GPO allows the government to reduce your spousal benefits by two-thirds the value of your pension.⁵

What’s changing?

Both WEP and GPO are going away, with the rule effective for benefits payable after December 2023. 

The elimination of the WEP means that your earnings history will no longer be discounted and you will earn full credit for your public sector work. Previously, public sector earnings were reduced for anyone who spent less than 30 years in the private sector when calculating Social Security benefits.

By eliminating the GPO, Social Security recipients who previously saw their spousal benefits reduced in order to account for their public sector pension will now receive a full spousal benefit.

In a joint statement following the passage of H.R. 82 in November, cosponsors Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA-06) and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) said: “By passing the Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives showed up for the millions of Americans — police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other local and state public servants — who worked a second job to make ends meet or began a second career to support their families after retiring from public service. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. House voted to provide a secure retirement to the hundreds of thousands of spouses, widows, and widowers who are denied their spouses’ Social Security benefits simply because they chose careers of service.”

What steps should you take if you were previously impacted by WEP/ GPO?

Social Security has not announced the timing of payments but has advised impacted individuals to follow these steps

If you have previously Social Security benefits and they are partially or completely offset by the WEP/GPO: You do not need to take any action except to verify that SSA has your current mailing address and direct deposit information. Most people can do this online with their personal my Social Security account without calling or visiting Social Security. Visit www.ssa.gov/myaccount to sign in or create your account.

If you have not previously filed for Social Security benefits: If you are receiving a public pension and have not previously filed for benefits, you may file online at ssa.gov or schedule an appointment.⁶

SOURCES

1. “S.597 - Social Security Fairness Act.” Congress.com, March 1, 2023, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/597. Accessed 19 December 2024.

2. “H.R.82 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2023.” Congress.com, January 9, 2024. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/82. Accessed 19 December 2024.

3. “House Overwhelmingly Passes Senator Collins’ Social Security Fairness Act.” Collins.senate.gov, November 14, 2024. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/house-overwhelmingly-passes-senator-collins-social-security-fairness-act. Accessed 19 December 2024.

4. "Windfall Elimination Provision.” SSA.gov, Social Security Administration, January 2024, www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf. Accessed 19 December 2024.

5. “Government Pension Offset.” SSA.gov, Social Security Administration, May 2019, www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf. Accessed 19 December 2024.

6. “Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update.” SSA.gov, Social Security Administration, January 2025, https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html. Accessed 3 January 2025.