The Social Security Fairness Act

Full report

# The Social Security Fairness Act: Restoring Earned Benefits for Public Servants **Date:** August 3, 2026 For decades, millions of retired teachers, firefighters, and police officers were quietly penalized by two provisions buried in federal law — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These rules reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits of workers who had also earned pensions through public employment not covered by Social Security, often by hundreds of dollars a month. Many did not discover the reduction until they were already planning retirement. On January 5, 2025, both provisions were repealed when the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82, P.L. 118-273) was signed into law — the culmination of more than twenty years of work by Senator Susan Collins [1]. ## 1. Background: The WEP and GPO Provisions The WEP and GPO were enacted in 1983 and 1977, respectively, to address anomalies in the Social Security benefit formula that provided unintended advantages to individuals who worked in both covered (taxed) and non-covered employment [2]. **The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP):** Enacted in 1983, the WEP adjusted the benefit formula for retired or disabled workers who earned pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. Because the standard formula is progressive — replacing a higher percentage of pre-retirement income for lower-earning workers — individuals with non-covered earnings appeared to the system as low-wage workers, artificially inflating their benefit replacement rate [3]. The WEP was designed to remove this unintended "windfall." **The Government Pension Offset (GPO):** Enacted in 1977, the GPO reduced Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits for individuals receiving their own government pensions from non-covered work. Under the dual entitlement rule, a person's spousal benefit is reduced dollar-for-dollar by their own Social Security benefit. The GPO applied a similar logic to non-covered pensions, reducing the spousal benefit by two-thirds of the government pension amount [3]. Prior to repeal, these provisions reduced or eliminated benefits for approximately 3.2 million individuals, primarily state and local government employees and certain federal workers hired before 1984 [4]. ## 2. Two Decades of Work to Fix a Broken System The fight to repeal the WEP and GPO was not a recent cause. Collins began pressing the issue in 2003, when she convened the first-ever Senate hearing on the provisions as Chair of the Senate Government Affairs Committee [1]. What she heard confirmed what retirees across the country had long experienced: workers who had spent careers in public service — teaching children, responding to emergencies, protecting communities — were being penalized for it at the moment they needed their benefits most. Two years later, in 2005, Collins introduced the Social Security Fairness Act for the first time alongside the late Senator Dianne Feinstein [1]. The bill would be reintroduced in session after session over the following two decades, building support each time but never quite reaching the floor for a vote. Collins kept at it. By the 118th Congress, the Senate version had secured 62 cosponsors — more than enough to pass — yet Senate leadership had still not scheduled a vote. Collins and her colleagues pressed publicly for floor time, and the Senate ultimately passed the bill 76-20. The House had already passed it 327-75 [1]. "For too long, the WEP and GPO have denied retirees and their spouses the Social Security benefits they earned through years of work and contributions to the system," Collins said at the bill signing. "This law ensures that public service will no longer come at the expense of one's earned retirement benefits." [1] Her work did not end at the signing ceremony. Collins immediately turned her attention to implementation, pressing the Social Security Administration to begin issuing retroactive payments without delay — and the agency delivered [5]. ## 3. Impact on Beneficiaries ### 3.1. Benefit Increases The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the average monthly benefit increases resulting from the repeal: | Beneficiary Type | Average Monthly Increase | |---|---| | Worker beneficiaries (WEP repeal) | $360 | | Spousal beneficiaries (GPO repeal) | $700 | | Widow(er) beneficiaries (GPO repeal) | $1,190 | Source: Congressional Research Service, January 2025 [3] Individual increases vary based on pension amount and benefit type. Some beneficiaries are eligible for more than $1,000 in additional monthly income [4]. ### 3.2. Implementation and Retroactive Payments The law applied retroactively to benefits payable from January 2024 onward. By July 2025, the SSA reported completing adjustments for over 3.1 million eligible beneficiaries, disbursing **$17 billion** in retroactive payments — five months ahead of schedule [4]. Maryann Murray, a former administrative assistant at Brewer High School in Maine who worked there for nearly 30 years, described receiving her retroactive payment: "When I got my benefits after all this time, it just took my breath away. I said, 'I can't believe someone finally thought of us.'" [5] Her story is one of more than three million. For each of them, the change in their monthly statement is a direct result of Collins refusing to let the issue die — year after year, Congress after Congress — until it finally became law. ## 4. Conclusion The Social Security Fairness Act corrects a decades-old inequity in the federal retirement system, restoring earned benefits to more than three million public sector retirees across the country. It is a law that almost did not happen — one that required a senator willing to hold the first hearing, introduce the first bill, and keep reintroducing it for twenty years until the votes were finally there. For the retirees who spent careers in public service and spent years waiting for a fix, the impact is immediate and measurable. The persistence that made it possible was Collins's. --- ## References [1] U.S. Senator Susan Collins. "SIGNED INTO LAW: Social Security Fairness Act Authored by Senator Collins." January 5, 2025. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/signed-into-law-social-security-fairness-act-authored-by-senator-collins [2] MassRetirees. "WEP/GPO Explained." https://massretirees.com/wepgpo-explained/ [3] Congressional Research Service. "The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023." January 31, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12890 [4] Social Security Administration. "Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update." July 21, 2025. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html [5] U.S. Senator Susan Collins. "UPDATE: Thousands Already Benefitting as Social Security Fairness Act Implementation Continues." March 11, 2025. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/update-thousands-already-benefitting-as-social-security-fairness-act-implementation-continues

Related candidates

• Susan Collins

Sources & citations

1. SIGNED INTO LAW: Social Security Fairness Act Authored by Senator Collins. U.S. Senator Susan Collins Official Website. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/signed-into-law-social-security-fairness-act-authored-by-senator-collins
2. H.R. 82, Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 — Cost Estimate. Congressional Budget Office. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60690
3. The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 — CRS In Focus. Congressional Research Service. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12890
4. Social Security Fairness Act: WEP and GPO Update. Social Security Administration. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html
5. UPDATE: Thousands Already Benefitting as Social Security Fairness Act Implementation Continues. U.S. Senator Susan Collins Official Website. https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/update-thousands-already-benefitting-as-social-security-fairness-act-implementation-continues
6. Social Security Fairness Act Will Cost Billions, Create Unfair Loopholes. National Taxpayers Union Foundation. https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/social-security-fairness-act-will-cost-billions-create-unfair-loopholes
7. Congress Should Reverse Its $196 Billion Social Security Mistake. Cato Institute. https://www.cato.org/blog/congress-should-reverse-its-196-billion-social-security-mistake