WASHINGTON, DC – President Joe Biden today signed a law to boost Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million Americans who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public service jobs.

The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act was introduced in the Senate by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and in the U.S. House by Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7) and Garret Graves (R-LA-6). Senator Reed is an original cosponsor of the Senate bill, which had 62 cosponsors.

The bipartisan legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in November with a vote of 327-75-1, and it was approved by the full Senate on a vote of 76-20 in December.  The Social Security Fairness Act repeals the government pension offset (GPO) and windfall elimination provision (WEP) that reduce Social Security benefits for some firefighters, police officers, public school teachers, postal workers, and other public workers and their spouses.

“Getting this legislation signed into law means higher Social Security payments for thousands of hardworking Rhode Islanders who have dedicated their lives to serving our communities.  They deserve to be treated fairly and have earned these retirement benefits.  This new law ensures that teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public workers won’t be short-changed,” said Senator Reed.  “I’m glad we were able to finally deliver this correction for millions of hardworking Americans and I’m committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security for all.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the WEP and GPO provisions have limited Social Security payouts for approximately 2.8 million Americans, including about 6,500 Rhode Islanders.

The legislation makes the new law retroactive for Social Security payments starting January 2024, meaning eligible recipients who previously only received partial benefits will get a full payment retroactive to one year ago.

Rhode Islanders who previously filed for Social Security benefits that are partially or completely offset do not need to take any action to receive the updated payment. 

Social Security recipients can go online to verify their personal Social Security account is up to date by visiting: www.ssa.gov/myaccount