House Committee Advances WEP/GPO Repeal Bill; Future Uncertain

On September 20, the House Committee on Ways and Means voted to report the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82, out of committee, but without recommendation. This is the furthest a bill to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) has advanced through the congressional process, and committee members expressed support for addressing the issue in some way, but the future path for the bill remains uncertain.  

As a reminder, both the WEP and GPO unfairly reduce Social Security benefits of Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuitants, as well as many state and local government retirees, due to their receipt of a government pension. 

The committee markup of the bill comes on the heels of a major push by NARFE at the national, grassroots and grasstops levels. Through coordination with NARFE’s congressional allies and other allied organizations, we have been able to secure 302 cosponsors for H.R. 82. to date.  

Due to a House of Representatives rule, adopted at the start of the 116th Congress and carried forward since then, the sponsor of any bill that accrues 290 cosponsors may file a motion to place the bill on the House Consensus Calendar. If the bill then maintains the 290 cosponsors for 25 legislative days, it will be placed on the calendar; the House must consider at least one bill from the calendar each week that the House is in session. Any bill on the calendar will remain there until it is considered by the full House, or “reported by the committee of primary jurisdiction” – in this case the House Committee on Ways and Means. 

H.R. 82 accrued its 25 days on September 19, setting the stage for a House floor vote last week. With that vote imminent, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a committee business meeting where it reported the bill. In doing so, it removed the bill from the House Consensus Calendar, avoiding a floor vote. 

While it was clear the purpose of the hearing was to prevent a floor vote on full repeal – due to concerns about Social Security solvency, primarily, according to committee leaders – every committee member who spoke at the hearing expressed a desire to address the inequities of WEP and GPO. Committee leaders support a more limited approach to reform WEP/GPO, as opposed to full repeal, but they did commit to working towards an agreement on mitigating the effect of the penalties. Ultimately, there was reason for both hope and concern about the prospects of future action. 

Prior to the hearing, NARFE National President Ken Thomas sent Congress a letter urging them to advance the bill. Thomas cited that the bill “represents an opportunity to provide real relief to our nation’s seniors and public servants.” Following its advancement through the House, Thomas released a media statement urging House leaders to “commit, this month, to bring this bill to the floor for a vote.” The full media statement can be found here. 

As we move forward, it’s critical that NARFE continues to pressure Congress to take action on this issue, lest it falls to the backburner of concerns once again. Please contact your representatives now to urge them to support a floor vote on H.R. 82.