Dear Mr. Chairman and Representative Neal,
I am writing to you on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to urge the Committee on Ways and Means to hold a markup and favorably report H.R. 82, the “Social Security Fairness Act.” This legislation is a top priority of the FOP.
The bill was introduced in this Congress by Representatives Garret N. Graves (R-LA) and Abigail A. Spanberger (D-VA) as H.R. 82, both of whom submitted their own request for Committee action earlier this week. This bipartisan legislation has the support of 308 Members of the House, including 95% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans—which makes the bill the second-most bipartisan piece of legislation in the House.
The legislation would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) in current Social Security law, two provisions of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce or eliminate the Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service. Last year on 20 November, the Committee held a field hearing, entitled “Social Security’s Disservice to Public Servants: How the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Mistreat Government Workers.” Mr. Chairman, you presided over this important hearing and in your opening statement, you noted:
Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset have prevented millions of Americans from getting the Social Security benefits they deserve, and these policies will harm millions more, unless Congress acts. While not likely known to most Americans, these two parts of the Social Security program have real consequences for public employees. It means seniors get smaller checks and could struggle to afford their food, medicine, and heat their homes.
We could not agree more. In my own testimony, I said:
The WEP and GPO provisions do not eliminate a windfall for workers—instead it’s a windfall for the government who are keeping money paid into the Social Security system by these dedicated public servants. That’s not right and it’s not fair. It is time that this legislation finally gets a vote on the House floor. Passing the Social Security Fairness Act would make a real difference in the lives of our nation’s retired public servants.
This is an issue of fairness, and it is past time to correct it. Since the enactment of the provisions four decades ago, it has been the Federal government that has reaped a windfall—on the backs and labor of its public servants. Now we have a bill that will correct this injustice and it is time to pass it. We have a bill with overwhelming support in the House and it should be favorably reported and taken to the floor without delay.
On behalf of the more than 373,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police, I hope that you both will allow this bill to be marked up by the committee. If I can be of any help or provide additional information about the bill, please do not hesitate to contact me or Executive Director Jim Pasco in our Washington, D.C. office.
Sincerely,
Patrick Yoes
National President