Since January 2023, we have been following HR 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, which is legislation to eliminate the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision of the social security act. In simple terms, this bill would restore the full payment of what we should have been recriving from what we paid into social security over the years.
Ever since we retired, if we qualified for social security because we worked and paid into the system for a minimum of 40 quarters, we have been cheated out of about 2/3 of what we should have received because we have a separate pension. It apparently did not matter that we paid into it, someone in the past thought that we should be penalized. Not just game wardens, but teachers, police officers, firefighters and others.
Several times over the past 20+ years, there have been efforts to eliminate these limitations to our access to the full payout that we deserve from what we had paid into Social Security.
It finally passed the House in November and the Senate in December and is on it’s way to the president’s desk for signature.
Social Security Fairness Act of 2023
This bill repeals provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government.
The bill eliminates the government pension offset, which in various instances reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own.
The bill also eliminates the windfall elimination provision, which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.
These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.
What happens next???
If it is signed by the President, then by about February or March or so of next year you will receive information about the recalculated amount that you should receive on a monthly bases and a check or possibly a direct deposit to cover the difference between what you should have received and what you did receive in 2024 because this is retroactive to January 1, 2024.
On or at about the same time, you should start receiving a larger check each month based upon the recalculated amount. Also, if your spouse worked more under social security than you did, your benefit should be based upon your spouses social security income, not yours.
I will be sending out more info as we learn more.
Jack Edwards
P.S. You may have already received notification from PORAC or just on the news such as this news story.