Biden signs Social Security Fairness Act, GPO-WEP ‘gone for good’

On Sunday, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which eliminated the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) rules, which had for 40 years unfairly harmed public service retirees.

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition,” Biden said. “Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity. By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors.”

Biden was introduced at the signing by an AFSCME retiree, Bette Marafino, a retired community college professor and a member of Connecticut Retiree Chapter 4, who led a task force that pushed for GPO-WEP’s repeal.

Marafino described how her grandparents’ Social Security benefits kept them out of the poor house, an actual building located a couple of blocks from her grandmother’s home.

“I think the vision of the people who were there in that poor house motivated me and others on the task force … to help correct the injustice that my fellow public service workers who keep our communities running have had to endure,” said Marafino.

In a statement, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who was at the signing, said, “Finally, GPO-WEP is gone for good. These outdated rules denied over two million retired public service workers their hard-earned Social Security benefits. With President Biden’s signing of the Social Security Fairness Act, GPO-WEP becomes a thing of the past.”

Thanks to the tireless efforts of AFSCME members, labor partners and Congressional allies including Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Rep. Garret Graves, thousands of AFSCME members can now retire with peace of mind. At the same time, passionate jobseekers will be inspired to pursue public service careers knowing their futures will be secure.

In his statement, President Saunders thanked President Biden, “for delivering another monumental win for public service workers,” and pointed to the fierce activism of AFSCME members for delivering this historic victory.

“AFSCME members, both on the job and already retired, along with fellow public service workers nationwide,organized petitions, letter-writing campaigns, called representatives in Congress and even traveled to DC to demand answers face-to-face,” said Saunders.

In the past year alone, activists across the country made more than 8,000 phone calls and wrote more than 28,000 letters to their elected leaders to bring an end to these unfair cuts.

Their nonstop activism has brought a huge victory for public service workers.