There are just a few days left in the current congressional session, and legislation to extend Social Security benefits to millions of Americans is on the verge of another vote on Thursday after clearing a significant practical problem in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday afternoon. A livestream on the Senate floor revealed an unofficial Senate vote of 73-27 in favor of approving a resolution to move onward with the thought of the Social Security Fairness Act.
The law simply needs a simple majority to pass and reach President Biden’s desk after the vote clears the 60-vote filibuster threshold. The motion was advanced by 24 Republican senators, including Ohio’s vice president-elect JD Vance, who joined 49 Democrats in doing so.
Senate votes on Social Security Fairness Act
Just before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on social media, “We will vote on captivating up the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal defective plans that eat away at the benefits of those who’ve operated as teachers, firefighters, postal employees, or public area workers.” “Those who have been denied their hard-earned entitlements as retirees will be strongly observing. “A key component of our middle class is Social Security.
Before Wednesday’s vote, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who missed his seat in the November voting, told the chamber, “You contribute to it for forty quarters, you earned it, and it ought to be there when you retire.” “All these employees are asking for is for what they received.
“A full vote of the measure, which would repeal two federal policies that deny millions of Americans—such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and others with public pensions—their full Social Security benefits, has been pushed for by the Democrat from New York.
Typical Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, described how a retired teacher sobbed in his office, “not accepting why she was receiving less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all.” Sen. Thom Tillis opposed the bill, arguing that even while a small number of people may not receive their full share of Social Security benefits, passing what he described as an unfunded government mandate that would raise the federal debt “is not the way to combat.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
After decades of development, the Social Security Fairness Act would reject two administration programs that significantly cut benefits to around 3 million retirees: The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Those who additionally receive pensions from federal and state jobs not covered by Social Security, such as teachers, law enforcement, and postal workers in the United States, are included in this.
A second clause in the plan would likewise eliminate the reduction in Social Security benefits for the surviving wives and family members of those workers. About 800,000 GPO retirees and 2 million Social Security receivers are impacted by the WEP.
Federal, state, and municipal government employees who retired and did not contribute to Social Security through payroll taxes had their spousal or surviving payments reduced by the GPO. It affects around 800,000 retirees. In November, it passed the House of Governments by a dual-party vote of 327-75.
House sponsors Republican Representative Garrett Graves of Louisiana and Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia made headlines earlier this fall when they successfully filed a release petition, which is a way to bring a bill to the House floor for thought without a report from the applicable committee, in order to force a vote. Maine Republican Susan Collins and Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown are the bill’s Senate sponsors.
Why Social Security Fairness Act is Important?
Approximately 3 million people would have their restrictions on accessing Social Security benefits lifted under the Social Security Fairness Act. The retirement benefits of certain public employees, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters, are reduced by two clauses in the existing regulations. This week, toward the end of the congressional term and the end of Independent control of the assembly room, could see the vote.
Equally the Government Pension Offset and the WEP would be repealed if the Social Security Fairness Act were to become law. For people who receive allowances from public area jobs—such as state and federal employees—that are or were exempt from paying Social Security payroll taxes, the WEP lowers Social Security payments, even if they made Social Security Grants.
What Changes After the Social Security Fairness Act?
The plan will provide more benefits to all those now impacted by the WEP and GPO if it receives the necessary 60 votes in the Senate and is signed into law by the president. According to a 2020 Urban Institute analysis, eliminating both clauses would enhance benefits by around $7,300 year on average for 4.5 percent of all beneficiaries by 2025. Nonetheless, the Congressional Budget Office projects that over ten years, this adjustment will increase government deficits by around $195 billion.
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