DeLauro Applauds Enactment of Social Security Fairness Act

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro released a statement celebrating President Biden signing H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, into law:

“Social Security is an earned benefit, and all Americans who pay into the program deserve to collect what they have earned,” said DeLauro. “The enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act is a victory for millions of public servants – teachers, firefighters, and police officers – who will now receive the benefits they worked hard for. I am proud to have championed this issue in Congress and thank President Biden for signing it into law. I will always fight to protect Social Security from cuts and ensure generations to come receive their hard earned benefits.” 

H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act restores full Social Security benefits for public servants by repealing two provisions of current law that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits that public employees receive – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). In Connecticut, repealing the WEP will affect over 22,000 Social Security beneficiaries and repealing the GPO will affect nearly 10,000 Social Security beneficiaries, according to reports from the Congressional Research Service.

The legislation is retroactive for Social Security payments starting in January 2024. That means eligible recipients who previously only received partial benefits will get a full payment retroactive to a year ago. Text of the legislation is available here.