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H.R. 82’s WEP-GPO Repeal – A Misguided Effort?
With the possibility of a floor vote on H.R. 82 (Social Security Fairness Act of 2023) before the end of the current congressional session, it’s crucial that the general issue of fairness be explored from a complete perspective. In a post this morning on heritage.org, Roe Institute Senior Research Fellow Rachel Greszler offers just such a perspective, stressing that repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) sections of current Social Security law would be ill-advised. Her informed opinion emphasizes that a total repeal of the provisions, rather than correcting the math, “would create an unequal benefit structure and hasten Social Security’s insolvency.”
Ms. Greszler offers background on the origin of the two rules and their intent to avoid situations where workers who spent time in both covered and noncovered employment–that is, jobs that either participated in Social Security or did not participate–would potentially receive benefits in a greater amount than appropriate. As she notes, when WEP and GPO were signed into law decades ago, the Social Security Administration did not have sufficient data to construct accurate formulas for the benefit adjustment. That data now exists and should serve as the basis for revisions to the formulas used to adjust benefits.
Read Ms. Greszler’s article in full here.
The Importance of Understanding WEP and GPO
As we reported on this website earlier this week, many legislative attempts have been made to fully repeal WEP and GPO, with no prior action taken. The issue is controversial, to be sure, and there are two sides to the argument. For this reason, and in response to many questions from readers, the AMAC Foundation has heavily researched the origin of these two troublesome provisions, concluding that the purpose behind their design is often not clearly understood, nor is the way the math works in support of the original purpose. The Foundation offered a publication (WEP and GPO: To Repeal or Not?) to help clarify the matter and conducted a public webinar presenting thoughts on the subject. A recording of the webinar can be viewed on the Foundation website here.