On Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 4:42 PM EST, President Joe Biden Signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law fully repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) for both current and future public retirees.
The historic passage of HR82 by the House and Senate, followed by approval from the president, marks the end of a 41-quest by our Association that began shortly after the laws were created more than four decades ago. Mass Retirees was among the first organizations in the country to call foul when the laws were included within the Social Security Reform Act of 1983. Since then, reversing the unfair laws and bringing an end to WEP/GPO have been at top priority.
“Our founder and former President Ralph White immediately identified WEP/GPO as critical issues back in the spring of 1983. It was Ralph, together with Bill Rehrey and the Association’s staff at that time, who began the fight against the two very unfair federal laws more than four decades ago,” recalls Association President Frank Valeri. “When I was elected to succeed Ralph in 2013, it was clear just how important these issues were to our members. At the time, it was also obvious that our members had almost given up hope that anything would ever change.
“Despite years of disappointment, frustration, and anger, our members never gave up the fight – nor did our Association. Beyond the financial relief that repeal of WEP/ GPO will bring to tens of thousands of Mass Retirees and survivors, it is knowing that perseverance has won the day that makes this moment incredibly special. Our members, and hundreds of thousands of retirees across the country, won because they never stopped fighting for fair and equal treatment.”
It was a fitting end to the 41-year saga that Mass Retirees was present at the White House bill signing ceremony. Association Chief Executive Officer Shawn Duhamel, who has been the point person on the issues since joining Mass Retirees in 1994, had the honor of representing our members at the White House. Duhamel was also able to speak with President Biden and convey our deep appreciation for his support.
“Knowing just how important this victory is to our members; it was incredibly important to have our Association represented at the White House. On a personal level, after having worked on these issues for thirty years, witnessing the signing of the law was a very special moment for me,” said Duhamel. “The bill signing was even more meaningful because I was able to share it with my friend and colleague Tim Lee, from the Texas Retired Teachers Association.”
“As members know, Mass Retirees and the TRTA began working together advocating for an end to WEP/GPO somewhere around 2008. For roughly 17 years, Tim and I have routinely walked the halls of Congress together on behalf of our collective members. For a time during the 2010s, it seemed like it was just our two organizations, with a small coalition of other state groups keeping the issues alive when most of the country had given up.”
IMPACT ON CURRENT RETIREES
Passage of HR82 means that both the WEP and GPO have been fully repealed and struck from federal law. The bill also calls for Social Security benefits to be restored retroactive to January 1, 2024.
This means that current retirees, who have had their own Social Security benefit reduced by the WEP or their spousal/survivor Social Security reduced/eliminated by the GPO, will have their Social Security benefit restored to the correct amount for which they are eligible. Here in Massachusetts, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates that some 130,000 current retirees are impacted. Future Social Security recipients will also be able to collect their full Social Security retirement benefit now that WEP/GPO have been repealed.
In addition to public retirees receiving a pension from a public sector job not covered by Social Security, the WEP/GPO also impacted some railroad and US Postal Service retirees, as well as some retirees receiving foreign pensions. These groups will also see their Social Security benefits restored to the correct amount.
As of press time in late January, we are awaiting further guidance from SSA on implementation plans. With some 2.1 million current retirees impacted by WEP and nearly 800,000 harmed by the GPO, it is likely going to take SSA time to implement the new law and issue retroactive checks to 1/1/2024 to eligible retirees.
“While we want to see our members receive their money as quickly as possible, we realize the process is going to take time and that we’re going to have to be patient. The good news is that it is no longer a matter of “if” you will see your benefit restored to the correct amount, but “when” it will take place,” explained Association General Counsel Bill Rehrey, who penned the original article in the May 1983 Voice placing the spotlight on WEP/GPO.
“It is frustrating to have lots of questions on implementation, but very few answers. As soon as we have concrete information from SSA, we will let our members know right away. Meanwhile, we ask that effected retirees be wary of online rumors and unfounded speculation. Also be very cautious of anyone pitching pay-day loans or other schemes that claim to speed up payment. We do not want to see anyone taken advantage of.”
OVERCOMING MAJOR OBSTACLES
In the January edition of The Voice, we reported on the passage of HR82 by the US House of Representatives on November 12, 2024 – just one week after Election Day. Approved by a super majority in the House by a vote of 327-75, with one member voting “present”, the bill was forced to the floor through a parliamentary maneuver called a discharge petition.
The discharge petition, which required support from a majority of the 435 members of the House, was initiated in September by Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), the bipartisan cosponsors of HR82. The measure quickly gained a majority threshold easily exceeding the 218 votes required for the petition to force the bill from the Social Security subcommittee and onto the House Calendar.
Despite attempts to kill the bill by the far-right House Freedom Caucus, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) did not use the power of his office to block the bill from advancing to the floor for a vote. With 330 cosponsors, HR82 was destined to pass overwhelmingly once a rollcall vote was taken. The discharge petition, initiated by Graves and Spanberger, broke the legislative logjam that had prevented previous attempts to either repeal or reform WEP/GPO from being acted upon.
Following approval by the House, the bill advanced to the US Senate where a 60-vote super majority is required to pass any bill related to Social Security. For most, if not all the 41-year effort to end WEP/GPO, there was no clear path for a bill to pass the Senate. Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who led the Senate Republicans from 2007-2025, was an adamant opponent to full repeal. Ruling with an iron fist, McConnell vowed to block any attempts to pass a full repeal bill through the US Senate.
“For more than fifteen years, there was no viable path through the Senate. With McConnell and the Republican leadership staunchly opposed to full repeal, we did not have anywhere near the needed 60 votes. That meant that there was no way to overcome the filibuster during that time period,” explained Duhamel.
The change in the position of Senate Republicans is a large part of how HR82 came to be passed into law (see article p. 3 on how the stars aligned for full repeal to pass). S597, the Senate’s version of HR 82 filed by US Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME), had 61 cosponsors heading into the final two weeks of the Congressional session – 45 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and 3 Independents.
However, with just one vote more than the 60-votes required for the bill to overcome the Senate’s cloture rules and end a likely filibuster, passing HR82 through the Senate by the December 20th deadline was a longshot. However, the announcement in 2024 that McConnell would step down as Republican leader created a key opening for a repeal bill to advance.
And while incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune was a known opponent of full repeal, he did not use the power of his position to “whip” Republican votes against HR82. This may have been due to the fact the Vice President JD Vance was one of the 13 Republican Senators openly supporting full repeal. Representing Ohio, which is one of the primary states impacted by WEP/ GPO, Vance knew the importance of the issue to his constituents.
NATIONAL UNIONS PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE
Years of grassroots advocacy by tens of thousands of retirees across the country, along with the on the ground presence of organizations like Mass Retirees and the TRTA certainly paved the way for the bill to pass the House. But navigating a large controversial bill through the US Senate’s byzantine structure with the clock quickly running out was a tall task.
With the proverbial ball on the goal line, a group of national public employee unions pressed the Senate’s Democrat and Republican leaders to move HR82 forward. Spearheaded by the International Association of Fire Fighters, led by General President Ed “Edzo” Kelly, advocacy efforts in the US Senate accelerated on Wednesday, December 11th – just 10 days before the deadline.
A Boston firefighter and former president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM), Kelly was aware of the importance of WEP/GPO repeal. He is also a close friend and ally of Mass Retirees. Joining the IAFF to lead the advocacy efforts surrounding HR82 in Washington, DC was the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), amongst others. With the IAFF and Kelly taking the lead, labor organized a rally in the Senate Park, just yards from the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill.
Despite heavy rain, hundreds of retirees and active employees attended the December 11th rally. Kelly served as MC for the event and was joined on stage by national labor leaders and a bipartisan group of bill cosponsors – all calling on the Senate to act on HR82.
It was then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who stole the show by taking the stage in heavy rain and vowing to the crowd that he would “call the vote” on HR82.
Mass Retirees attended the rally, along with the TRTA and several Massachusetts public employee unions. Following the rally, Shawn Duhamel and Tim Lee joined forces with John Nelson of MassCop and Paul Jacques from the PFFM to visit the office of all 13 Republican cosponsors. They met directly with Senators Collins and Rick Scott, both how whom promised to fight for passage of the bill.
Duhamel continued, “Remember, on December 11th, Trump had not yet come out for the bill. We did not know how Senator Thune and his leadership team were going to react. We did know that our time was best spent shoring up the Republican vote, as we could not afford to lose more than two GOP cosponsors. The It was clear that our tactic was working when in introducing myself to Senator Scott, he immediately replied, ‘I seem to have a lot your members living in my state! I hear from them a lot, which is why I support the bill.’
“However, Senator Schumer attending that rally and calling for the vote in front of hundreds of retirees was, I believe, the turning point in passing HR82 through the Senate. And had it not been for the leadership of Edzo Kelly and the IAFF, who organized the rally and put the full power of their union behind the bill, we would likely be having a very different conversation today,” added Duhamel.
True to his word, Schumer not only placed HR82 onto the Senate Calendar but utilized the power of his office to swiftly move the bill through the complicated Senate process. On the afternoon of Wednesday, December 18, the Senate held what known as a cloture vote – which required a 60-vote threshold to advance a bill forward. Surprisingly, the bill easily surpassed the needed threshold by a vote of 73-27.
However, the cloture vote was just the start of the multi-step process for a bill to pass the US Senate. By the design of the nation’s founders, the Senate process is meant to be slow and purposely laborious. Passing a bill such as HR82, which did not receive a hearing this session before the powerful Senate Finance Committee, is exceedingly rare. “
Everyone shared the same fear that the clock would run out on the 20th, leaving HR82 to die on the goal line. Had that happened, the whole process would have had to start from scratch in the new year and who knows if we would have been successful. Even when everyone has the best of intentions to pass a bill, sometimes the process gets in the way and you run out of time,” comments Legislative Liaison Nancy McGovern. “Add to the drama the fact that the federal budget dispute meant that the government was on the verge of shutting down that same day really added to the drama, not to mention our anxiety levels! To lose the bill, just days before the holidays, would have been devastating.”
Throughout the Senate process, US Senator Ed Markey and his staff continually kept our Association well informed of all developments, as well as provided a crash course in Senate procedures and rules.
“Collectively, our Mass Retirees team has nearly 100 years of State House and legislative experience. But the rules of the US Senate are not only foreign to use, but exceedingly complex and nuanced. Having experts that we could rely on for real-time information was critical,” says Association Legislative Chairman Tom Bonarrigo. “Both Senator Markey and Senator Warren really came through for our Association in more ways than one.”
One by one the amendments were heard, voted on, and soundly defeated. The final vote on HR82, which also required a 60-vote super majority, was recorded at 12:04 AM on Saturday, December 21st. HR82 was approved by the US Senate by a vote of 76-20, with four Senators not casting a vote. In the end, 49 Democrats, 24 Republicans, and 3 Independent US Senators said YES to full repeal of WEP/GPO.
Later that Saturday morning, Mass Retirees received word that President Biden planned to sign the bill into law at a White House ceremony early in 2025. This allowed time for final Congressional paperwork on HR82 to be completed, as well for the holidays to take place.
“I can think of no better way to end 2024 than for full repeal finally being passed. And starting 2025 by witnessing the bill signed into law at the White House was incredible. Hopefully, it is a harbinger of good things to come for public retirees this year,” concluded Duhamel.