The new “Social Security Fairness Act” increases SS benefits for some government workers. - Forbes
Congress has debated the issue for decades – ever since the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) were enacted in 1983 (the first version of the GPO was enacted in 1977). These provisions were made law to better equalize the way Social Security benefits were paid to those who spent a lifetime contributing to Social Security versus those who spent only a smaller time doing so. Although controversial almost from the beginning, public (and union) pressure came to a head in 2024, and the 118th Congress succumbed to that pressure, thus passing H.R. 82 – the so-called Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law by President Biden on January 6, 2025. As a result, nearly 3 million government retirees whose SS benefits were previously reduced will see an increase in their monthly Social Security amount. This, of course, is good news for affected government retirees, but perhaps bad news for Social Security’s financial status in that it will accelerate depletion of the SS reserves. All of this is explained in this Forbes article by Bob Carlson.
Social Security must be reformed soon to achieve financial solvency. As an example of the leading thoughts on reforming Social Security, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized to meet the demands of 21st-century economics. AMAC’s position is that this can be achieved without payroll tax increases via slight program modifications, including cost of living adjustments and payments to high-income beneficiaries. AMAC also supports an increase in the thresholds where benefits are subject to income tax, along with indexing of these thresholds annually to account for inflation. The AMAC position also calls for eliminating the reduction in benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age, and advocates for improved savings tools for future retirees. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.