H.R. 82 garnered 140 cosponsors in the House within the first week of its introduction. At press time, there are 169 and the number continues to grow.Included in that number are members of the Mass. Delegation. Members may recall that in previous congressional sessions, the entire delegation had supported repeal legislation. Attention will initially be focused on the House Social Security Subcommittee, in which H.R. 82 is currently pending  for further action.

Prominent Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has also refiled her bill, which mirrors its House counterpart in repealing both the GPO and WEP. S 206 has eight cosponsors, including Maine’s delegation of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. As of press time, both Massachusetts senators are expected to sign onto the bill.

“While this is encouraging news, we must remember that there is still a long road ahead and much more work needs to be done,” reminds Association President Ralph White. “Members, throughout the fifty states, must urge their congressmen to get behind this repeal.”
New York’s McNulty: New Chair

When the Democrats won the mid-term elections in November, it was known that a shake-up would soon take place on Capitol Hill. By mid-January those changes had taken place, with a number of key appointments taking place that could impact issues of importance to public retirees.

One such key appointment is the chairman of the powerful Social Security Subcommittee in the House Ways and Means Committee. In past sessions, Republican leaders had successfully stalled WEP/GPO Repeal legislation in that subcommittee, despite overwhelming support to advance the measure to a floor vote.

In January, US Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) named New York Congressman Michael McNulty (D-NY) to chair the House Subcommittee on Social Security. McNulty, who is serving his tenth term in Congress, is new to the Social Security Subcommittee.

It is noteworthy that there are several members, from both sides of the aisle, who are sitting on the subcommittee and represent one of the states most affected by the WEP and GPO. In fact, six subcommittee members, almost one-half of the total of thirteen, are from either California, Ohio and Texas, whose retirees are hurt the same as we are here.
Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal, who is a prominent member of the Ways and Means Committee and served on the Social Security Subcommittee in the last session, has been reassigned to chair the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.