Repeal WEP, Support Social Security Fairness Act

  • The WEP affects people who worked in jobs not covered by Social Security and in jobs where they earned Social Security benefits, such as educators who do not earn Social Security in the public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security. The WEP also affects people who move from a job in which they earn Social Security to a job, such as teaching, in which they do not.
  • The offsets penalize people who have dedicated their lives to public service by taking away benefits they have EARNED. Nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years. The WEP causes hardworking people to lose benefits they earned themselves.
  • This is an education issue—the offsets impact student learning by discouraging talented people from entering and staying in the education profession. Individuals who worked in other careers are less likely to want to become teachers if doing so will mean a loss of earned Social Security benefits. The offsets hinder efforts to attract new math and science teachers from the private sector, who will be unwilling to sacrifice earned Social Security from prior careers.
  • This is a national problem. Because people move from state to state, there are affected individuals everywhere. The number of people impacted grows every day as more people reach retirement age.
  • The loss of income forces some people into poverty. Some 300,000 individuals lose an average of $3,600 a year due to the GPO—an amount that can make the difference between self-sufficiency and poverty. Impacted people have less money to spend locally and sometimes have to turn to expensive government programs like food stamps to make ends meet.
  • It is Time to Act NOW!! Cosponsor the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal the GPO and WEP.