Social security benefits expanded Result: who is affected

The House of Representatives voted 325 to 75 in favor of expansion Social Security Benefits for millions of Americans.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan bill called the Social Security Fairness Act won approval to roll back two provisions that routinely reduce monthly Social Security checks for seniors.

Historically, the Provision for windfall elimination (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset Provision (GPO) have prevented workers from receiving full Social Security benefits if they also received a pension.

The WEP affects people who have had significant income from work covered by social security for less than 30 years, if they also receive a ‘non-funded pension’.

Conversely, the GPO reduces benefits for spouses of those receiving unfunded pensions by about two-thirds.

This impacts millions of former public sector workers, including teachers, police officers, firefighters and their spouses.

“The plan is to improve Social Security, not cut it…,” Rep. John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, said Tuesday. “Now is the time for us to take action and vote.”

Some Congress Members remained critical of the law, as it is expected to cost about $196 billion to implement over the next decade.

This comes at a time when the Social Security Administration is already facing a funding shortfall that would cut retiree benefits by about 20 percent starting in 2025.

At a public hearing on the bill, Rep. Jodey Arrington, Texas, said Republicansaid Congress must ensure fairness for all public sector workers, regardless of which state they live in. However, he warned against passing the bill without considering the impact it would have on the financing of the social security system.

“We are going to accelerate the insolvency of the Social Security trust fund,” Arrington said Tuesday. “We have to be responsible in how we do this. We have to consider retirees in every state, and we have to consider future retirees.”

After the House votes to pass the bill, it will go to the House Senatewherever it is likely to pass.

Before the law was passed in the House of Representatives, the law received more than 300 signatures Democrats And Republicans directly. However, the Freedom Caucus broke protocol last week by introducing the bill, before reversing that decision this week.

“The bill in question expanded Social Security benefits to a small group that had been excluded in the past because of provisions about combining these benefits with supplemental pensions for workers in certain fields,” said Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee. told earlier Newsweek.

“The proposal was popular and received bipartisan support, which makes it even more puzzling not to act on it for the time being.”