Washington, DC - Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, is calling on all Members of the House to sign Discharge Petition #16 and send H.R. 82, the “Social Security Fairness Act,” to the floor.

“Four decades,” Yoes said.  “That’s how long our nation’s retired public servants have seen their benefits stolen by a grossly unfair system. Now, we have the chance to rectify this injustice and fully repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.  If 218 Members of the House sign Discharge Petition #16, we can finally get the bill to the floor for a vote.”

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) are penalties on the Social Security benefits earned by public employees.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently issued a report which showed that if the WEP and GPO are not repealed, the Federal government will loot $195.6 billion from law enforcement officers and other public servants over the next ten years.  The WEP currently impacts approximately two million Social Security beneficiaries, and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees.

“It is shocking to think that these dedicated public servants will lose $195 billion of the benefits they earned in the next 10 years, yet it pales in comparison to the benefits lost in the previous 40 years,” Yoes said. “Public employees who earn a Social Security benefit through other work, should receive that benefit in full,” Yoes said.  “Let’s put Social Security Fairness to a vote!”