For Association lobbyists, whose job is to advocate on behalf of public retirees, the path towards legislative success is often marked with difficult obstacles which must be overcome.

One of the hardest and most complex issues that the Association has faced during its 36-year history is the effort to repeal both the GPO and WEP laws. Affecting some five million public retirees/employees across the country and carrying an estimated cost of $65 billion over ten years, the repeal of these two regressive Social Security laws is finally gaining support in Congress.

As of press time in early August, progress was being made on several key fronts relating to both the WEP and GPO. The letters, phone calls and emails, that members have been sending to the Congress on this issue, are beginning to have an impact.

"I can understand how frustrating this process is to our members who are losing thousands of dollars a year. We've been pushing hard to repeal these laws for years," says Association President Ralph White. "Many new members were still working and completely unaware these laws even existed, while at the same time the Association was already fighting this battle.

"When retirees first learn that they are going to lose all or part of their expected Social Security benefit, it's quite a shock. I know that results have been slow coming, but we are not going to give up until our members get what they have earned."

One of the key players in the saga to repeal the WEP/GPO is Florida Congressman E. Clay Shaw (R-Ft. Lauderdale). As the powerful chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security, he is the gatekeeper as to what bill, if any, will ultimately be voted on by the House.

Shaw, who is also a key member of the House Leadership, is on record supporting a revised Social Security formula that would lessen the reduction for retirees who fall victim to the WEP. As reported in the July Voice, Shaw's proposal (H.R. 4391) repeals the current WEP law and replaces it with a system that calculates one's benefit based on the percentage of time, spent working in a job that paid into Social Security, during their entire work history including one's public service.

After being barraged by both his Florida constituents and retirees from across the country, Shaw held a public hearing on his bill in late July - somewhat of a rarity for a summer leading up to a fall election. A handful of organizations from around the country, as well as a deputy commissioner from the Social Security Administration (SSA), were invited to testify before the Social Security Sub Committee.

While the organizations, as a whole, deemed H.R. 4391 a good "first step", a compelling case was made as to why a full repeal of the WEP is a more appropriate goal. This position is similar to that taken by our Association on this legislation, which calls for the restoration of one's full Social Security benefit.

Unlike H.R. 594 (full WEP/GPO repeal), Shaw's proposal only restores a portion of the monthly benefit reduced by the WEP. In most cases, a retiree, who is collecting Social Security under their own work history, would still receive less than 50% of the benefit that had been reduced. This would leave members with Social Security benefits still reduced by several hundred dollars each month.

"Members, who have contacted us, have been crystal clear on how they feel. To a person, they believe that Mr. Shaw's bill does not go far enough," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "The people, being hurt by the WEP, would still be hurting even if H.R. 4391 were to pass. It simply does not go far enough in restoring the lost benefits."

An interesting development to come out of the hearing on July 20, followed the testimony offered by the SSA. Apparently, the records needed to determine one's benefit under H.R. 4391 only date back to 1978. According to Deputy Director Martin Gerry, the SSA has therefore determined that the revised Social Security formula that would be established under Shaw's proposal is unworkable without the records before 1978.

"It's great that Mr. Shaw is exploring possible solutions to the problem. However, it is our hope that instead of creating complicated new formulas, the Committee begins to focus on a very simple repeal of the law," added Duhamel.