When the House returns to session, one of the first bills it will consider is H.R. 82, the “Social Security Fairness Act,” which will repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset in current law.
Without getting too much into the weeds, the WEP/GPO penalizes millions of retired public employees — police officers, teachers, and firefighters — and strips them of up to 60% of the Social Security benefits they earned during their working lives.
For 40 years, retired public employees have been treated differently than every other retired American worker. This is wrong, unfair, and dishonest, and it’s time for Congress to address this injustice. These retirees paid into Social Security and rightfully earned these benefits.
We are fortunate that this is a bipartisan issue that Democrat and Republican members of Ohio’s delegation can agree on. We are fortunate that Sen. Sherrod Brown is the lead sponsor in the Senate and Sen. JD Vance has signed on as a co-sponsor.
In the House, Reps. Balderson, Beatty, Brown, Carey, Joyce, Kaptur, Landsman, Miller, Rulli, Sykes and Turner have all signed onto the bill to show support for Ohio’s law enforcement officers. We want to thank them all, and we are looking forward to seeing them vote in favor of the bill.
For 40 years, Congress has used this as an excuse to perpetuate the WEP/GPO and treat public employees differently from other Americans who chose a career in the private sector. Enough is enough. It’s time to treat our police officers, teachers, and firefighters fairly.
Frank Alesiano, president, Fraternal Order of Police, Tuscora Lodge 4, Dover
This article originally appeared on The Repository: LETTERS: Pass the Social Security Fairness Act for public employees
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