WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden signed legislation Sunday that increases Social Security payments for current and former public servants, giving the nearly 3 million teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants who received pensions during their careers influenced people. work.
Read more: Senate passes increase in Social Security benefits for many retired public servants
Supporters say the Social Security Fairness Act would correct decades of inequality, but it would also strain the Social Security Trust Fund, which faces imminent bankruptcy.
The bill repeals two provisions (the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset provision) that limit recipients’ Social Security benefits if they receive retirement benefits from other sources, such as state or local public retirement programs. I am doing it.
“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn a decent living should be able to retire with financial security and dignity. That is the whole purpose of the Social Security system.” The statement was made at the signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
“This is a big deal,” he said.
Biden is joined by labor leaders, retirement advocates, and Democratic and Republican senators, including the bill’s main sponsor, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and outgoing Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He participated and received a standing ovation from the ceremony attendees.
The Congressional Research Service estimated that as of December 2023, 745,679 people, or about 1% of all Social Security recipients, had their benefits reduced due to government pension offsets. Approximately 2.1 million people, or about 3% of all beneficiaries, were affected by the windfall deduction provision.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that eliminating the windfall deduction would increase monthly benefits for affected recipients by an average of $360 by December 2025. Ending government pension offsets would increase monthly benefits by an average of $700 for 380,000 recipients in December 2025. According to the CBO, you can receive benefits based on your surviving spouse. The increase would average $1,190 for 390,000 people receiving widow benefits or surviving spouses.
These amounts increase over time due to periodic cost-of-living adjustments from Social Security.
The change would apply to payments starting in January 2024, meaning the Social Security Administration would be obligated to make payments retroactively. The bill passed by Congress states that the Secretary of Social Security “shall adjust the primary coverage amount to the extent necessary to take into account” changes in the law. It is not immediately clear how this will happen or whether those affected will have to take any action.
Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Firefighters, said firefighters across the country were “excited to see change. We have righted the wrongs of 40 years.” Kelly said the policy is “much worse for the surviving spouses of firefighters who have paid their own Social Security allowances but have fallen victim to the government’s pension system.”
IAFF has about 320,000 members, but that doesn’t include the hundreds of thousands of retirees who will benefit from the changes.
“Firefighters who were getting paid very little now can actually afford to retire,” Kelly said.
Brown, who had championed the proposal for years as an Ohio state senator, lost reelection in November. Lee Sanders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Unions, thanked Brown for his advocacy.
“More than 2 million public servants will finally be able to access the Social Security benefits they have spent their careers paying for,” Sanders said in a statement. “Many will finally be able to enjoy retirement after a lifetime of service.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said the legislation is “a historic victory that will improve the lives of educators, first responders, postal workers and others who dedicate their lives to public service in their communities.” said.
Some Republicans, including Collins, supported the bill, but others voted against it, including Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Ta. “Rather than doing this on a sustainable basis, we succumbed to the pressures of the moment,” Tillis told The Associated Press last month.
Still, the bill’s Republican supporters said they have a rare opportunity to address what they say are unfair provisions in federal law that harm retired public employees.
The future of social security has become a top political issue and a key issue in the 2024 election. Approximately 72.5 million people receive Social Security benefits, including retirees, people with disabilities, and children.
The new law’s policy changes will further increase the workload of the Social Security Administration, which is already at its lowest staffing level in decades. The agency, currently under a hiring freeze, has about 56,645 employees, the lowest level in more than 50 years, even as it serves more people than ever before.
The Social Security and Medicare Administration Board’s annual report released last May said the program’s trust fund would no longer be able to pay out full benefits starting in 2035. The new law advances the program’s bankruptcy date by about six months.
Along with ratifying the Social Security Fairness Act, Biden signed the Butch Lewis Act early in his presidency, which saved retirement benefits for 2 million union members.
Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
