Social Security Fairness Act Signed Into Law

Following decades of lobbying and hard work by PBPA, our national affiliate NAPO, and countless unions and their members, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law on January 5, 2025.

The new Act eliminates the “Government Pension Offset” (GPO) and “Windfall Elimination Provision” (WEP) laws that wrongfully reduced Social Security benefits for retirees that earned a public pension. WEP and GPO resulted in retirees and their survivors losing thousands of dollars each year from their Social Security benefits.

Now, these retired public servants will no longer be penalized by the provisions, with some seeing up to a $587 increase in monthly benefits.

We thank the Social Security Fairness Act’s sponsors Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Garret Graves (R-LA) in the House and Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) for their commitment to righting this wrong.

What does the Social Security Fairness Act mean for me and my family?

In simplest terms, your Social Security benefits earned from jobs where you paid into Social Security will no longer be diminished. These improvements to your Social Security benefits are retroactive to January 1, 2024. Considering the change in administrations at the Federal level, the implementation of this massive change will take some time (think near a year or perhaps longer).

To determine the impact this legislation will have on you and your family, start by creating a “my Social Security” account at www.ssa.gov. Doing so will permit you to view your Social Security statement, which can help you determine your qualifying quarters, earnings record, and social security eligible income. While in your “my Social Security” account, ensure your contact information is up to date. You are also able to call the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) at 800-772-1213 Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (local time).

According to the Social Security administration, current retirees will not have to do anything to receive the adjustment to their award, but they encourage retirees to verify that their mailing address and direct deposit information is up-to-date by updating their online Social Security account.