The Senate's Passed Bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act Heads To President's Desk

WARREN COUNTY, OH -- Congressman Greg Landsman (D-OH-01) announced that the House and Senate have passed the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act – a bill that repeals two unfair provisions that have been slashing benefits from public retirees for over 40 years. 

“This is a huge, huge win for our public retirees, and they will finally get all the benefits they paid into and earned. For more than 20 years, teachers, nurses, police officers, and so many other public workers have fought to pass the Social Security Fairness Act. This was the time to get it done and we pushed hard enough to make it happen. Thank you to each person who called, emailed, and wrote in – it truly made a difference. This will change lives and ensure our public retirees can retire with dignity,” Landsman said.

The Social Security Fairness Act has been introduced in every Congress since 2001. It became the most co-sponsored bill in the 118th Congress, with 330 Democrats and Republicans backing it. Despite its broad bipartisan support, the Speaker never brought it to the floor for a vote. 

The Social Security Fairness Act is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that would repeal two Social Security provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset – which unfairly penalizes public employees who paid into public retirement pensions but who also worked in the private sector and paid into Social Security.

The Social Security Fairness Act would ensure that the more than two million public retirees whose Social Security benefits are currently reduced by these two provisions would receive the full Social Security benefits they are owed.

For months, retired teachers, firefighters, police officers, and letter carriers across the country had been calling congressional offices – including ours – to pass this bill. 

In his first year in Congress, Landsman visited the National Archives and saw the discharge petition—a rare congressional procedure used to force a vote—for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Inspired by the role it played, he made his case to the sponsors of the Social Security Fairness Act, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger and Congressman Garret Graves, to file a discharge petition for the bill.

On September 10, Landsman joined the bill’s co-leads to launch the discharge petition and was proudly the third signature. Landsman helped secure the 218 votes needed to force a vote, achieving that in nine days. The House voted in November to pass the Social Security Fairness Act 327-75.

In December, the Senate Majority Leader agreed to put it up for a vote. On Saturday, it passed the Senate. It now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

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