Social Security Fairness Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, let me just briefly say that I have great admiration for the Senator from North Carolina. This is a rare instance in which we see the issue differently. But I appreciate his leadership and hard work.

I rise today in strong support of the long overdue Social Security Fairness Act. This bipartisan bill would repeal two Social Security provisions that unfairly penalize many public servants in Maine and across the country.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Senator Brown for his leadership. We have championed this bill together for several years. In fact, we have been debating this inequity in the Social Security System for decades--for decades.

In 2003, I held the very first Senate hearing on this policy. In 2005, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein and I introduced the first Social Security Fairness Act. In 2007, Senator Barbara Mikulski and I introduced another version of the bill. Just last month, the House of Representatives passed the bill overwhelmingly by a vote of 327 to 75.

It is now time for the Senate to finally pass this legislation so that it can become law.

Social Security is the foundation of retirement income for most Americans. Yet many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants often see their earned Social Security benefits unfairly reduced by two provisions: the so-called windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset.

The windfall elimination provision, or WEP, affects public servants who receive a pension from a job not covered by Social Security but who also worked long enough in another job to qualify for Social Security benefits. In other words, they have earned those benefits. They have worked the 40 quarters, the 10 years, under a job that pays into Social Security. Due to the WEP, however, their Social Security benefits are calculated using a different formula, which reduces their monthly benefits. For workers who become eligible for benefits in 2024, the WEP reduction can be up to $700 per month.

The government pension offset, or just GPO, affects public servants who receive a pension from a job not covered by Social Security but who are also eligible to receive a Social Security spousal or widow's benefit. The GPO, however, reduces the Social Security spousal or widow's benefits by an amount equal to two-thirds of the noncovered pension. More than 70 percent of those affected by the GPO lose their entire benefit.

This issue is extraordinarily important to people in my State of Maine because the State's pension system does not include a Social Security component. Among those most affected are Maine schoolteachers. They love their jobs and the children they teach, but they have to worry about their future and their retirement security.

Many are women, often retired from teaching, whose spouses worked full time in the private sector, but when they become widowed, their retirement security is often jeopardized because they don't receive the standard amount from their late spouse's Social Security. The fact is that 83 percent of retirees penalized by the GPO provision are women.

According to the Social Security Administration, in November 2024, more than 2 million people--including more than 20,000 in Maine--had their Social Security benefits reduced by the WEP. Similarly, more than 650,000 people were affected by the GPO in November of 2024, including more than 6,000 in Maine.

Let me give you one example. There are so many. Catherine Sjogren from Bangor, ME, told me about having to reenter the workforce at age 72 after retiring from teaching for many decades. Her husband, a Navy veteran, paid into Social Security for 40 years. When he passed away, the GPO reduced Catherine's widow benefits by two-thirds. She did not have the financial security any longer to remain retired, and the GPO penalty left her with few choices but to return to work.

Our dedicated public servants, such as our teachers who help prepare our children for future success and our police officers and firefighters who help keep our communities safe, should receive the full Social Security benefit that they have earned. Let me stress that last point: They have earned these benefits.

This is an unfair, inequitable penalty. I urge my colleagues to support the Social Security Fairness Act and end this inequity once and for all.

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