The House of Representatives recently passed Bipartisan Social Security Equity Act by a decisive vote of 325 to 75, led by co-sponsors Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Garret Graves (R-LA).

This bill seeks to eliminate two provisions that have historically reduced monthly checks for seniors: Waiver of Exceptions Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Compensation (GPO). These provisions affected workers who receive pensions along with Social Security benefits, particularly impacting public servants such as educators, law enforcement and firefighters. Eliminating WEP and GPO would affect approximately 2 million and 800,000 retirees, respectively.

If promulgated, The Social Security Fairness Act could significantly increase benefits for affected retirees. The Urban Institute estimates that eliminating the WEP and GPO would mostly benefit the highest-income retirees, with $1,900 for people at the top of the income distribution compared to just $400 for people in the bottom fifth.

There is also concern that, as a cut to Social Security revenue, the double elimination would hasten the demise of the entire social safety net. It would increase costs by 1 percent while it exists just eleven years before social security runs out of money.

When could the invoice be signed?

In the Senate, the bill will have to overcome potential procedural hurdlesincluding the need for 60 votes to invoke the building and end debate. The Senate version of the bill currently has 62 co-sponsors, which could be enough to clear those hurdles if all co-sponsors support it

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