Support HR 711, steps toward the repeal of the WEP/GPO, by calling 844-259-9352. The main switchboard will ask for your zip code which will refer you to your representative where you can leave a message saying you are in support of HR711, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act.
Background: The Windfall Elimination Act (WPE) and the GPO (Government Pension Offset) were enacted more than 30 years ago to offset double dipping by those who, for example, receive pensions from both social security and programs like SURS. Only 13 states, however, are affected by the WEP/GPO (Illinois is one of them) when determining teacher pensions. In these states, teacher retirement programs replace social security deductions. What this means is that when you retire, unless you have accrued enough Social Security wages from other employment by the time you retire, your teaching pension is reduced by the amount of any Social Security you receive. This adversely affects low wage “public servant” workers, primarily women, not the “double dippers” the law was meant to address.
Now that the members of the Texas Teachers Association enter retirement, Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, realizes there’s a problem (after 33 years–the WEP was adopted in 1983), and it seems there may be some real movement. Samuel Johnson (R-Plano, Texas) who chairs the Social Security subcommittee also supports the repeal, as does the NRTA (National Retired Teachers Association), an arm of the AARP, and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE). HR 711 does not repeal the WEP/GPO, but it does offer relief. Even though it has been sent back to committee, it does not seem dead according to the July 14, 2016 update from the NARFE because it has bipartisan support and will not add to the deficit.
For a complete summary of HR711, go to the NARFE website, http://www.narfe.org/home/articles.cfm?ID=4008.
See also Mike Dusik’s report on the NEA convention, which also addressed this issue.
Please call! Even if this does not affect you now, it will when you approach retirement.
