Joining with our partners in the Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity (CARE), the Association has called upon the Massachusetts congressional delegation to sign onto and support a move to force a vote in the US House of Representatives on H.R. 594.

What we have called on the ten Massachusetts Congressmen to do, is cosponsor what is known in Congress as a discharge petition, that effectively will force H.R. 594 to the floor of the House for debate and a vote. This particular discharge petition is H.RES. 523, which instructs the House Subcommittee on Social Security to release the bill.

In order for a discharge petition to be successful, at least 218 of the 435 members of Congress must approve of the discharge petition. Currently, there are 290 congressmen supporting H.R. 594, the bill we are attempting to discharge.

As members know, H.R. 594 would repeal both the GPO and WEP laws, therefore allowing those impacted retirees to collect both their full pension and full Social Security benefit without penalty. The bill has been under review by the Subcommittee since a public hearing on the matter was held during the spring of 2003.

"It may be a tough sell to move a major bill during an election year, but our members cannot sit back and wait for things to be politically convenient. Many retirees are having a tough time getting by after losing their Social Security benefits," explained Association President Ralph White.

"It's time to find out if the 290 members of Congress who say they support H.R.594 are willing to take the next step and force it to the floor for a vote. Win or lose, pushing this bill to a vote is the right thing to do."

Members, who are impacted by the GPO and/or WEP, are once again asked to contact their US Congressman and urge them to support our efforts to discharge H.R. 594. While Association lobbyists are sure that the road ahead will be a bumpy ride, it is important that Congress be forced to address the matter.

"We were gaining before the terrorist attacks on 9-11 and again late last year. Unfortunately, Social Security reforms keep getting pushed back as other issues come up," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "Our focus has to be keeping this issue fresh in the minds of our elected officials. Eventually, as the pressure mounts, they are going to have to act."

One of the major stumbling blocks standing in the way of action being taken on H.R. 594, or on one of the other GPO/WEP reform bills, is the large costs involved. The Social Security Administration has estimated that a full repeal, of both the GPO and WEP, would cost $65 billion over ten years.

With the GPO/WEP laws mainly impacting seven states (CA, CO, IL, LA, MA, OH and TX) and only marginally impacting twenty-one others, the majority of states are not widely affected. Therefore, it has proven an uphill battle moving members of Congress, from unaffected states, to act on the repeal.

However, there are large numbers of Federal retirees who live in every state. These retirees are also hit by GPO/WEP. The National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) has been a key ally on the national level. Also, several federal unions are involved.

We have contacted all of our 5,400 members in Florida and they, along with other impacted retirees, have contacted their 25 congressmen. Five immediately signed the discharge petition and we expect several others to do so.

Members of CARE have been active in every state, lobbying their congressmen. Support in the sunbelt states has been strong, and also in California where 18 congressmen signed the petition on the first day it was available.

At press time, 137 congressmen have signed H.RES. 523, the discharge petition. We are rapidly closing the gap to reach the magic 218 number.