Having achieved this milestone, Rep. Frank had the following comments. “Now that a majority of the House has formally joined our effort to provide some relief to victims of these terribly unfair provisions, I will be pressing the House leadership to allow the bill to come to a vote. This nation is far too wealthy to claim that we cannot afford to let people who worked hard all of their lives receive the Social Security benefits which they earned – morally and legally.”

According to Rep. Frank’s bill, a public retiree, who is unfortunately affected by the WEP (i.e., eligible for public pension after 12/31/85) but whose monthly pension and Social Security total less than $2,000, would be exempt from the WEP. In other words, they would receive the full amount of SS benefits, to which they are entitled, and not receive a much smaller amount calculated differently under the WEP.

For those between $2,000 to $3,000 monthly in combined pension and Social Security, their SS benefits are reduced less than under the WEP, based upon income. For example, public retirees, earning between $2,000 to $2,250 monthly, would lose only 20% of their SS benefits that would have been lost under the WEP, and 40% if their combined benefits are between $2,250 to $2,500.

Once a public retiree’s combined pension and Social Security totals more than $3,000 monthly, then their SS benefits would be reduced by the full amount under the WEP. While not eliminating the WEP entirely, H.R. 1073 offers relief to many affected members with low and moderate retirement income.

H.R. 1073 continues to be held in the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Florida Rep. Clay Shaw. Recently, this subcommittee held hearings on H.R. 3497, introduced by the Florida Congressman.

As reported in the March Voice, H.R. 3497 contains a proposal to reduce, by one-half, the actual reduction in spousal SS benefits under the Government Pension Offset (GPO). One of the strongest national groups for GPO relief and an Association ally, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) took the opportunity at the hearing to push hard for action on the issue.

Shaw, whose district encompasses parts of Dade and Broward Counties on Florida’s Gold Coast, won a narrow victory two years ago. District boundary changes now underway through redistricting would give him a more favorable voter base in this year’s election.

Over 340,000 local, state and federal retirees are affected by the GPO. Of that number 80% (almost 272,000) receive no SS benefits whatsoever because of this law.

“While the consensus appears to be that a comprehensive Social Security reform package is unlikely before year’s end, supporters of WEP and GPO relief remain optimistic that the (Social Security) Subcommittee will act separately on these issues,” reports Legislative Chairman Bill Hill. “CARE (Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity) intends to keep up the fight for change.