Work On The Home Front

As we reported earlier, Association officials have also been working the home front on the GPO and WEP issues. In March, with Lt. Governor Jane Swift preparing to take over the governor’s reins, Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel and President Ralph White met with Swift twice.

“With so many of our members being hurt by the offset and windfall laws, we have been reaching out to both sides of the aisle, both here and in Washington,” said Duhamel. “Ralph and I were both impressed with Jane Swift’s grasp of the issues and her concern for our members.

“At our last meeting, she showed us a draft of a letter she was sending to the White House prior to a later meeting in Washington with the President’s advisors. I know we have our congressional delegation on board, but it also helps to have the governor actively on our side.”

Also, this February three Association members were among a contingent of local retirement board members who were in Washington to meet with congressmen from Massachusetts and other states to seek relief from the offset and windfall laws.Roy Sacco, a retired Belmont firefighter, is an elected member of the Belmont Retirement Board; John Murphy is retired from the Somerville DPW and is now an appointed member of the Plymouth Retirement Board; and Bob Drew is a retired Natick p-olice officer and an elected member of the Natick Retirement Board. Also shown in the accompanying photo is Gerry Miller, a firefighter, who is an elected member of the Pittsfield Retirement Board.

These four men are also officers in the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS) which is part of a nationwide organization that has been lobbying in Washington on behalf of affected retirees.

WEP Relief Reintroduced

One of the congressmen, with whom they met, was Representative Barney Frank, who introduced HR 1073. Rep. Frank’s bill is identical to the legislation which he sponsored during the last (106th) congressional session to provide relief from the WEP (HR 860).

From our previous reports on the WEP, members know that only certain public retirees are affected by the law. If you are eligible for your public pension after December 31, 1995 and have less than 30 years of coverage under Social Security, you will be subject to the WEP and have your own SS benefits calculated using a “revised” formula that could reduce them by more than 50%.

Under this revised formula, an affected pensioner is awarded only 40% of a certain portion of his average earnings under Social Security, and not the 90% normally applied by the formula. Needless to say, that 50% difference in the percentage cuts deeply into one’s SS benefits.

HR 1073 does not eliminate the WEP entirely for all affected public retirees. It guarantees that a public retiree, who receives no more than $2,000 monthly when he combines his own SS benefits with his pension, will not be subject to any reduction by the WEP.

If an affected public retiree’s combined monthly amount is between $2,000 and $3,000, then the WEP’s revised formula would be phased in at different amounts until the full 40% formula would apply at the $3,000 level. Once a pensioner’s combined monthly amount is over $3,000, he would be fully subject to the WEP and could have the revised formula (40% and not 90%) applied to him.

Legislation that repeals the WEP entirely has again been introduced by Texas Congressman Max Sandlin (D-TX). As our readers know from the March Voice, Rep. Sandlin had sponsored HR 742 in the 106th Congress, which is now HR 848 in the 107th. HR 848 would apply to all public pensioners, whose SS benefits are being reduced by the WEP.

All of the GPO and WEP relief bills are before the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. At press time, Subcommittee Chairman Clay Shaw (R-FL) has not scheduled hearings on these bills.