Arctic Circle, the Big Easy: they could not be in more different parts of the country, but the legislatures of Alaska and Louisiana are considering measures that would do the same thing—call on Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). 
And they share similar reasoning: the WEP and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) penalizes those who worked in both the public and private sectors.
The WEP is intended to remove an unintended advantage—“windfall”—those workers would otherwise receive because of the interaction between the regular Social Security benefit formula and the workers’ relatively short careers in jobs covered by Social Security. The GPO is intended to replicate the dual entitlement rule for spouses and widow(er)s who receive pensions based on noncovered employment.
Alaska
The Alaska House of Representatives on May 1 in a 40-0 vote gave its seal of approval to House Joint Resolution (HJR) 18, a measure that urges Congress to repeal the WEP and the GPO. Rep. Alyse Galvin (I-Anchorage) introduced the bill on Jan. 22, 2024.
The measure was sent to the state Senate; that chamber’s State Affairs Committee held a hearing on May 7 about the bill.
Marilyn Pilifant, an individual from Anchorage, offered testimony. She told the committee that she had worked in the private sector before for more than 20 years and had paid into the Social Security system, and then served as a teacher in Anchorage for 30 years. She said that she discovered after retiring from teaching that the Social Security benefits she would be receiving “would not be what I was supposed to be getting,” telling committee members that she learned that she was penalized, and her Social Security benefits diminished, “because of the GPO-WEP.”
Her testimony was similar to expressions of support that the House had received earlier in the year concerning the legislation.
Mike Bronson submitted a statement on behalf of the NAACP Anchorage Education Committee urging the passage of HJR 18. He said that “Alaska is in the midst of a crisis of departing teachers. Compensation and retirement benefits are the chief sources of teachers’ dissatisfaction.” Bronson argued that giving them full Social Security benefits “as a mainstay retirement benefit” would not only benefit teachers, but also students.
Similarly, Tom Klaameyer, President of NEA-Alaska, in written comments he submitted to the committee said, “These offsets penalize people who have dedicated at least part of their career to working with our students as educators. As Alaska continues to struggle to attract and retain a high-quality educator workforce, GPO-WEP makes this more challenging as second career prospective hires will lose a portion of their previously earned Social Security benefits.”
Illustrating their points, Dianne Shibe, a retired teacher from Wasilla, AK, wrote: “Since I was 16, I have worked in various fields the required number of years to qualify for full Social Security benefits. When I was 42, I became a teacher in Alaska. They have reduced my monthly Social Security payments by about $400 a month. We need the FULL amount of the Social Security that we were promised before becoming Alaska teachers.”
Louisiana
The state Senate on May 7 voted in favor of a measure calling on Congress to repeal the WEP and the GPO.
Rep. Michael Johnson (R-Pineville) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 20 on March 13. His bill calls on Congress to support the Social Security Fairness Act, and “all similar legislation to review and eliminate all provisions of federal law which reduce Social Security benefits for those receiving pension benefits from federal, state, or local government retirement or pension systems, plans, or funds”—which includes the WEP and the GPO.
The state House of Representatives adopted the resolution in a 98-0 vote on April 17. It was sent to the Senate, which followed suit 39-0 on May 7. The chamber sent the bill back to the House.
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