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

It's not quite there yet - It still needs the final vote from the Senate & then to the President - which must happen today before the recess otherwise it fails. Some Republican senators are still waivering because of the estimated $200 Billion cost over the next decade - it still needs 60 votes to pass.

Don't go spending just yet!

Best place to view what is happening today is on CSpan - you can download the app to see a live view when Senate is in session.

Fingers & toes all crossed 

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.

It looks like the bill passed 73-23 but apparently that is not a final vote?  I don’t pretend to even begin to understand the procedural machinations in the House and Senate.

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

It still must pass one more procedural hurdle in the Senate before receiving a final vote. President Biden is expected to sign it once it reaches his desk.

The machinations of the US Government were on full display late yesterday - witness all the horse trading in trying to get funding through!

The vote in the Senate that passed was called cloture, which I understand is a fast track method to get to a final vote without debate - it's the final vote that we all now need to be passed (TODAY) - then we can all believe in Santa!

Finally WEP is about to be consigned to the history books as the Senate tonight (morning UK time) voted to repeal this legislation - now heading to the presidents desk for expected signature - a truly happy Xmas!!


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Finally WEP is about to be consigned to the history books as the Senate tonight (morning UK time) voted to repeal this legislation - now heading to the presidents desk for expected signature - a truly happy Xmas!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yay!!

Wow, I really hope this goes through ... I've always thought it was pie in the sky.

Wow, I really hope this goes through ... I've always thought it was pie in the sky.

It has passed and is on its way to the White House for Presidential approval before becoming law.  For my wife and I it means a total of about $9,600 / year.

Also, my SS application for my SS has been in the status of "waiting for review by an agent in London" should no longer need that review.  I have mailed in 3 forms SSA-308 for my OAP and 2 private pensions which are now not needed.

Anyone familiar enough with the bill to know when it will be put into practice? I see from other comments that it needs to be signed by Biden first, but how long before It will be enacted?

I also wonder what they will do about people (like me) who are still waiting for WEP to happen? SSA are now close to 2 years behind in my case - I should have been WEP'ed since April 2023, but despite me pursuing it, they have done nothing so far.

The final text says “ this Act shall apply with respect to monthly insurance benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act for months after December 2023”.  So I imagine all applications for Social Security after that date will go through faster than they would have done. 

I got an email from ACA about the WEP repeal. I'm conflicted about it. It's extra money for those with non-SS pensions, things like my MA state pension, but it will have to be paid for and I worry about that given the tax cutting inclinations of the new administration. My WEP would not have been large as I'm now up to 25 years of SS contributions, but every little helps I suppose.

I got an email from ACA about the WEP repeal. I'm conflicted about it. It's extra money for those with non-SS pensions, things like my MA state pension, but it will have to be paid for and I worry about that given the tax cutting inclinations of the new administration. My WEP would not have been large as I'm now up to 25 years of SS contributions, but every little helps I suppose.

I shouldn’t beat yourself up too much about the extra cost of getting rid of WEP and GPO. I believe it is estimated to cost $20B/year which is the cost of a few bits of military equipment (F35 costs over $100m each). The SSA paid out $1.5T last year so it is a very small percentage increase.

I think GPO is particularly unfair as it removes all the SS spousal benefits, including survivor benefits, for a married couple. If one believes a system is unfair then surely it should be fixed.  I have a good friend in MA whose wife is subject to GPO and he had an excellent paying job so has a very high SS benefit. He has colleagues with good SS benefits but their spouses aren’t affected by GPO, some had never worked, and he complains that although he has paid as much or more into SS as they have, their spouses will collect 50% spousal SS benefits while they live and 100% SS after they die.

Couldn't agree more - in my (humble) opinion, WEP was just a crude method of means testing a state pension.

Consider the scenario of someone who put in 20  years into both the UK and US systems but then finds their US entitlement is cut by 40% - and their UK pension is only worth 20/35 of a full pension. Depending on how much was put in to the US system, the 40% reduction can be more then the UK pension - go figure    I know there may be work arounds with totalisation etc but that can be such a workout.

I'm not going to feel any guilt over getting a bit more because WEP has been repealed (assuming Joe Biden hurries up and signs on the dotted line - which he hasn't done yet) - the US SS retirement benefit is something I fully paid into for the time I worked in the US - without claiming a single state or federal benefit in all the time I was there.

I got an email from ACA about the WEP repeal. I'm conflicted about it. It's extra money for those with non-SS pensions, things like my MA state pension, but it will have to be paid for and I worry about that given the tax cutting inclinations of the new administration. My WEP would not have been large as I'm now up to 25 years of SS contributions, but every little helps I suppose.

I can see your point, and for many expats the WEP repeal is a very handy windfall, but for others it simply redresses things to a fairer basis.

I was overseas for 23 years, of which 13 were spent not paying into either SSA or NIC, nor a private pension (either due to low paid employment, no employmet (6 years of grad school), or a country with no pension benefits for foreigners. I didn't take advantage of the ludicrously cheap Class 2 NIC route while overseas. I therefore have only a small SSA pension and a partial UK state pension.

I have no qualms about benefitting from the WEP repeal, and leave it up to the politicians to figure out how they will pay for it.

Couldn't agree more - in my (humble) opinion, WEP was just a crude method of means testing a state pension.

Consider the scenario of someone who put in 20  years into both the UK and US systems but then finds their US entitlement is cut by 40% - and their UK pension is only worth 20/35 of a full pension. Depending on how much was put in to the US system, the 40% reduction can be more then the UK pension - go figure    I know there may be work arounds with totalisation etc but that can be such a workout.

I'm not going to feel any guilt over getting a bit more because WEP has been repealed (assuming Joe Biden hurries up and signs on the dotted line - which he hasn't done yet) - the US SS retirement benefit is something I fully paid into for the time I worked in the US - without claiming a single state or federal benefit in all the time I was there.

If you've been making voluntary NIC payments then any UK state pension from those would not have applied to WEP. I actually thought that WEP was sensible as US SS is progressive and you get a better relative benefit for lower lifetime earnings. So WEP took your previous earnings in another country or in a job where you didn't pay into FICA into account. But that's moot now.

It's a funny old world. We get benefits we don't deserve. The WEP was justifiable. We got the covid stimulus checks even though we don't live in the US. We get credits for children who don't live in the US. At the same time, we suffer from the likes of FATCA, PFIC and GILTI. In all cases, congress hasn't thought at all about the impacts on americans overseas. How about we won't bother you and you won't bother us? (like normal expats).