Support Efforts for Repeal of WEP legislation H.R.82 and S.597

Through a separate link (thanks to @nun ) I joined ACA (American Citizens Abroad) and opened a US bank account with State Department Federal Credit Union in US$ paying 5.10% interest fixed for 15 months.

Part of being a member of ACA means that I get various updates on issues that are important to USC's living abroad - more recently they've provided links and advice on how to vote in the upcoming election - without showing any political allegiance there's one person that I wouldn't want to see in the White House!

Another important issue for me (and I'm sure many others on this site) is WEP. There have long been efforts to repeal this legislation and maybe (we can all hope!) there is some current movement here.

If you're interested in supporting efforts to repeal this legislation, here is a link with more information:

https://www.americansabroad.org/stop_the_reduction_of_us_social_security_due_to_the_windfall_elimination_provision_wep?utm_campaign=repeal_of_wep_240808&utm_medium=email&utm_source=americansabroad

Thanks for the link, I will certainly add my voice to the masses calling for the elimination of WEP.

Interesting that the bill has cosponsors in the house and senate representing a majority of both bodies, with support from many Democrats and Republicans. And yet the bill is rated as having very little chance of becoming law. Congress is disfunctional. (Click through the links to the house and senate bills found on the ACA page linked for the details).

Congress is disfunctional.

Now that's an understatement! - they probably get it from having geriatric presidential candidates   

Just pushing this initative to the top of pile again! - if it ever gets over the line, it will benefit most (if not all) members.

Here's the latest update from American Citizens Abroad:

Help Congressman Graves and Congresswoman Spanberger get H.R. 82 over the finish line.
 

Representatives Graves and Spanberger will be jointly filing a discharge petition on September 9.  This will allow H.R. 82 to be brought to the House floor for a vote. Please use ACA's advocacy write-in campaign to urge your Representative in Congress to sign the discharge petition when they return to the House on September 10.  218 signatures are needed to discharge H.R. 82 so that it can be put to a vote on the House floor.  Help Representatives Graves and Spanberger get the votes they need!

And here's the link to make it easy for you!

https://www.americansabroad.org/stop_the_reduction_of_us_social_security_due_to_the_windfall_elimination_provision_wep?utm_campaign=hr_82_advocacy_240827&utm_medium=email&utm_source=americansabroad

The GOP “freedom caucus” has killed the bill.

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-break-protocol-kill-social-security-benefits-expansion-bill-1982423

While many Republicans have called to protect or even expand Social Security benefits, GOP lawmakers killed a bill that would help millions of Americans get higher monthly payments. Experts spoke with Newsweek about the possible motives behind the move.

A Social Security bill that would have repealed two rules that lower benefits for certain retirees was brought forward by House Reps. Garret Graves, (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).

Despite the bill previously having a wide range of bipartisan support and Graves and Spanberger securing the 218 signatures needed to bring the law to the House floor, the Freedom Caucus blocked the bill on its path to being passed.

Buckle up.

The GOP “freedom caucus” has killed the bill.

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-break-protocol-kill-social-security-benefits-expansion-bill-1982423

Now, I'm really confused!! - got this email from ACA (American Citizens Abroad) yesterday:

Washington, D.C.
November 14, 2024
Advocacy efforts for the Social Security Fairness Act Repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) Pays Off.
American Citizens Abroad (ACA), a Washington, DC-based qualified 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan, advocacy organization that represents the legislative and regulatory concerns of six million U.S. citizens living and working overseas to the U.S. Government, is pleased to see the U.S. House of Representatives vote in favor of the Social Security Fairness Act, HR. 82.
The Social Security Fairness Act calls for the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) which reduces the Social Security benefits of individuals who receive benefits from a federal, state, local government or foreign pension for employment not covered by U.S. Social Security. ACA maintains that U.S. citizens who live or are living overseas should not be penalized by having their U.S. Social Security benefits reduced simply because they spent part of their careers abroad and contributed to foreign pension plans, in many cases mandated by the country where they are living.
Previous drafts of WEP legislation have not included foreign pension recipients whether they are U.S. citizens who live (or lived) overseas. HR.82 includes foreign pension recipients, as does the Senate companion bill S597. The vote on HR.82 was taken late in the day on November 12th with 327 to 75 to approve, demonstrating strong bi-partisan support.
ACA, alongside organizations representing police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other local and state public servants as well as, organizations representing foreign pension recipients, advocated strongly to Representatives for HR.82. ACA educated Representatives on how individuals who are receiving foreign pensions are not “double dipping.” These are individuals that have contributed fully to both U.S. Social Security and their foreign pensions and are counting on these benefits for their retirement. ACA continues to encourage members and supporters to use their online advocacy campaign to write to their Representatives in Congress to help support ACA’s efforts on Capitol Hill.
“The advocacy efforts by ACA and all the groups representing individuals affected, and by our members and supporters, paid off. The support for HR.82 was bi-partisan, and that is a great success and a testament to the hard work all the organizations put behind their advocacy efforts. Now it’s onto the Senate,” said Jonathan Lachowitz, ACA Chairman.
“What’s important now is not only getting the Senate bill passed but ensuring that no changes are made that remove foreign pension recipients from the bill. We have seen this happen in the past based on claims that Social Security doesn’t have access to the data it needs from foreign employment records. If that’s the case then the legislation should include a provision that mandates Social Security to access that data,” added Marylouise Serrato, ACA Executive Director.


I confess to not being an expert of how Congress operates (there's probably a few in Congress who are also in the same boat!  )

What's going on??

I spoke too soon, the bill is progressing 

Thanks for the update. I wrote in support of the change this summer. The reply was that it was well-supported but no one knew when it it might be taken up.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-whats-next-social-security-194717235.html

Efforts to get the Senate to vote on a bill to expand Social Security benefits are intensifying, as the House-passed Social Security Fairness Act enjoys rare bipartisan support but has only a short window of time — six weeks — to be passed.  "We're guardedly optimistic," Shannon Benton executive director of The Senior Citizens League, or TSCL, an advocacy group devoted to protecting retirement benefits, said. "There is so much momentum, if it doesn't get passed now, a lot of people will lose hope."

Decades in the making, the legislation would eliminate a provision that reduces Social Security payments to some retirees who also collect a pension from jobs that aren't covered by the retirement program, such as state and federal workers including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. It would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers' surviving spouses and family members.

Various forms of the measure have been introduced over the years, but like many legislative proposals, they had failed to get enacted. "I've been working at the league 25 years, and I don't remember ever not having a version," said Benton. Introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garret Graves, R-La., the bill was passed by the House in a 327-75 vote late Tuesday night, after a last-ditch effort to derail it by members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus failed. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.

What happens next to the Social Security Fairness Act?

Despite having 62 cosponsors in the Senate, the bill still needs to be brought up for a vote by the chamber's leadership, and soon. The bill "dies December 31, at the end of the second session of Congress," Benton said. "Not only would this bill have to start from scratch, but a new person would have to introduce it."  The Republican and Democratic lawmakers who introduced the measures in their respective bodies either did not run for reelection or lost their reelection bid, as was the case with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, who introduced the bill in the Senate. If the Social Security Fairness Act comes up for a vote in the Senate, it's expected to pass, having already secured 62 co-sponsors — surpassing the majority needed to send it to President Joe Biden for his signature. If signed into law, the changes would be effective for benefits payable after December 2023.

What does the Social Security Fairness Act do?

The legislation would cut two provisions that curtail retirement payments for public workers and their surviving spouses and family members, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which Spanberger and Graves argue are tantamount to theft of those workers' benefits. "For more than 40 years, the Social Security trust funds have been artificially propped up by stolen benefits that millions of Americans paid for and that their families deserve," they said in a Nov. 13 statement.  As things stand now, the WEP reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also receive a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For instance, that would include teachers who don't earn Social Security through their public school positions but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs that are covered by Social Security, even though they pay into the system over enough quarters to qualify.

The GPO impacts the spousal benefits of people who work for federal, state or local governments — including police officers, firefighters and teachers — if the job is not covered by Social Security. The GPO cuts by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collect a government pension, often offsetting benefits entirely.  For instance, under the GPO, someone who receives a $900 spousal benefit from Social Security but who also has a $1,000 non-covered pension would see their Social Security benefit cut by $667. That would leave them with a $233 remaining spousal benefit from Social Security.  Under the Social Security Fairness Act, the same person would receive the entire $900 spousal benefit.  "Workers should be able to count on the retirement benefits they've earned," said Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, an original cosponsor of the bill. "It's time to pass the Social Security Fairness Act so government workers and their families and people with disabilities are not punished for earning multiple sources of retirement income."

What is the chance of the Social Security Fairness Act passing?

The biggest opposition to the bill is its cost. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would cost upward of $190 billion over a decade. "It would hasten the combined trust funds shortfall by six months to a year, when it's already in trouble," said Benton, who said TSCL supports reforming Social Security to resolve its projected insolvency in 2033 to 2034. "The long-term solvency of Social Security is an issue that Congress must address — but an issue that is wholly separate from allowing Virginians, Louisianans, and Americans across our country who did their part and contributed their earnings to retire with dignity," Graves and Spanberger said in their joint statement.

For those who continue to monitor this (and therefore hopefully benefit from WEP being repealed), the Senate appears to be moving towards a vote before the end of the year.

https://apnews.com/article/senate-social-security-bill-cc9ba7856c1517bc4c9f8cde050954af

Of course, there's no guarantee the vote will go in favour of repealing WEP, but we can all but hope - presumably we will know more in the next few days

For those who continue to monitor this (and therefore hopefully benefit from WEP being repealed), the Senate appears to be moving towards a vote before the end of the year.

https://apnews.com/article/senate-social-security-bill-cc9ba7856c1517bc4c9f8cde050954af

Of course, there's no guarantee the vote will go in favour of repealing WEP, but we can all but hope - presumably we will know more in the next few days

I think we are in the hands of the President Elect. A few phone calls can easily turn a few Republicans so that it doesn’t have the 60 votes to stop a filibuster. He may not like to see the increased spending, or he may want it delayed to next year so he can take the credit.

Fingers crossed 🤞

I think we are in the hands of the President Elect. A few phone calls can easily turn a few Republicans so that it doesn’t have the 60 votes to stop a filibuster. He may not like to see the increased spending, or he may want it delayed to next year so he can take the credit.

Fingers crossed 🤞

At least he's making the right noises about dual taxation of US overseas citizens - so yes fingers crossed! - of course everything can change once he walks into the White House, then who knows what excuses will come out

Best Christmas present ever?

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5048673-senate-approves-social-security-benefits-bill/

We are fortunate that WEP also impacted millions in the US because Congress never would have done this just for us. Not complaining at all - this is huge.