President Biden Signs Social Security Fairness Act into Law

On Jan. 5, President Joe Biden signed The Social Security Fairness Act into law, which will increase Social Security benefits for millions of public sector workers.

With Biden’s signature, the bill—which the Senate passed with a bipartisan majority on Dec. 21—will eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Passed in 1983, that stipulation reduced the Social Security benefits of workers who receive government pensions not covered by Social Security.

The Social Security Fairness Act also repeals the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which slashed benefits for spouses, widows and widowers of those who received public sector pensions.

As CNBC reported, more than 2.5 million Americans “will receive a lump-sum payment of thousands of dollars to make up for the shortfall in benefits they should have received in 2024, and the Act will affect Social Security benefits payable after December 2023.

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition,” Biden said of the legislation at a Jan. 5 press conference. “Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity.”

With the Act becoming law, “we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors,” he continued. “That means an estimated average of $360 per month increase. That’s a big deal for middle-class households.”

(The Social Security Administration is currently evaluating how to implement the Social Security Fairness Act, and will provide more information on its implementation “as soon as possible,” according to a Jan. 6 statement.)

Public sector advocacy groups are applauding the legislation’s passage. For example, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare heralded the bill’s signing as an “historic” event.

“The new law rights a wrong that for the last 50 years has either reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits of certain government retirees,” the organization said in a statement. “Nearly 3 million public sector employees and families will now be eligible to collect their full Social Security benefits.”

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) President William Shackelford called the Act’s passage a victory 40 years in the making.

“While we celebrate today, we also reflect on those who were impacted by these provisions but are no longer here to witness this change,” Shackelford said in a statement. “Their service and contributions are not lost on us, and we honor their legacy by continuing to advocate for fairness in retirement benefits for all public servants.”

With the WEP and GPO now repealed, “federal retirees, along with so many others, will finally receive the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned.”