After more than 40 years of strong advocacy by ATPE and its allies, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 officially became federal law Jan. 5 when President Joe Biden signed H.R. 82. (Watch the bill signing in the YouTube video embedded above.) The bipartisan legislation officially repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which, in some instances, reduced Social Security retirement benefits for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public service workers who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security. H.R. 82 also repeals the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which, in some instances, reduced Social Security benefits for spouses, widows and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own.  

ATPE has worked hard to advocate for our members on this issue since the early 1980s and has eagerly awaited this milestone since the bill’s passage in the Senate Dec. 20 following its passage in the U.S. House Nov. 12. We are proud of the bipartisan work done by the House and Senate to pass H.R. 82, as well as the efforts of many other organizations across the country that have been working with us to repeal these harmful provisions for more than four decades. ATPE extends its heartfelt gratitude to President Biden for supporting H.R. 82, ensuring that many deserving public servants can now receive the Social Security benefits they have rightfully earned. 

The Social Security Administration may require several months to implement benefit changes for the more than 2.5 million Americans impacted by the WEP and GPO. Because approximately 96% of Texas public school employee Teacher Retirement System (TRS) members do not participate in Social Security as their employers did not opt to pay into the program, a majority of TRS retirees are likely impacted by the WEP, GPO, or both. 

We are working to gather additional information from both the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Texas Retirement System (TRS) and will share it here on Teach the Vote as it becomes available.