Nearly three million Americans may receive an increase in Social Security benefits due to legislation set for a final vote in the Senate.
The “Social Security Fairness Act” will eliminate the policy that has long resulted in cuts to federal benefits for those who also qualify for other retirement pensions.
According to lawmakers and advocates, these policies have significantly impacted individuals working in state, local, and federal governments, as well as teachers, firefighters, and police officers.
The bill has garnered bipartisan support, but has also faced criticism from some conservatives. The House passed the bill in November with a vote of 327 to 75, and it easily cleared the first hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday, December 18. Supporters of the bill hope the Senate will vote on it before the start of the new Congress in January, and then send it to President Biden for signing into law.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) will result in affected beneficiaries seeing an average increase of $360 per month in benefits starting in December 2025.
Additionally, repealing the Government Pension Offset (GPO) will lead to around 380,000 beneficiaries who receive benefits based on a living spouse seeing an average monthly increase of $700 starting in December 2025. The benefits for approximately 390,000 surviving spouses receiving widow or widower benefits will see an average increase of $1,190.
These amounts will gradually increase with Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) for Social Security benefits.