Social Security Fairness Act Will Restore the Social Security Benefits That Public Workers Paid Into and Earned

WASHINGTON, DC – The President has signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act, which U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) cosponsored and pushed for to ensure that public sector workers, such as teachers, postal workers, police officers, and firefighters, receive the full Social Security benefits they paid into and earned. The bipartisan law restores the full Social Security benefits of tens of thousands of Michigan workers and retirees.

“These hardworking public servants deserve to receive the full Social Security benefits that they paid into and earned when they retire,” said Senator Peters. “I’m pleased that this law will now restore and protect the benefits of thousands of teachers, public safety officers, postal employees, and other workers who help keep our communities safe and strong.”

The Social Security Fairness Act repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions that reduced Social Security payments for certain retirees who also received pension income. The WEP currently impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees across the country.

Peters has long fought to protect Americans’ hard-earned benefits and ability to retire with dignity and security. Earlier this year, Peters urged the Social Security Administration to address mistaken overpayments that placed undue financial burdens on social security recipients. Peters is also a proud cosponsor of, and has urged Congress to pass, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would strengthen the federal laws that protect workers’ rights to form a union to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits.

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