Just before adjourning for the year, Congress managed a huge victory for CTE teachers and other public sector workers. Early Saturday morning, by a vote of 76-20, the Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82. The House had passed the bill in November, so this Senate action cleared the way for the bill to be sent to the President and signed into law!
The Senate had to move through a number of procedural steps and defeat several amendments before finally approving the bill. This action marked the culmination of decades of advocacy to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) within the Social Security program. These provisions unfairly reduced Social Security benefits, including spousal benefits, for those who worked in private sector jobs and paid into Social Security, but also worked in a public sector job and earned a pension, depending on how the retirement system was structured in a state. They were particularly problematic for CTE teachers in about 15 states because many of our teachers work in the private sector before transitioning to teaching later in their careers. It made it even more difficult to recruit CTE teachers in these states because they faced losing their already earned Social Security benefits.
The bill that was passed completely eliminates these provisions, which should restore Social Security benefits for anyone who meets other eligibility criteria but had suffered a reduction or elimination of their monthly payment because of GPO or WEP. It is not yet clear how quickly the Social Security Administration will be able to adjust payments for current retirees, but the bill states that any payment after December 2023 should not be subject to GPO and WEP, so it appears some catchup payments will be needed in addition to monthly adjustments going forward.
We are relieved that retired CTE educators who were being penalized by these provisions will finally see relief, and that it will be just a little easier to recruit CTE educators moving forward!
