States Ramp Up the Pressure on WEP

Pressure from the states for action on the federal Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) is increasing. 

The WEP and the GPO are benefit formulas that reduce Social Security benefits for workers and their eligible family members if the worker receives (or is entitled to) a pension based on earnings from employment not covered by Social Security. The WEP is intended to remove an advantage or “windfall” that workers it affects would otherwise inadvertently receive due to the interaction between the regular Social Security benefit formula and the workers’ relatively short careers in Social Security-covered employment. 

Down East 

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) on June 1 signed into law a measure that that calls on the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to study the creation of an interstate compact with other states affected by the WEP  and the GPO.   

Massachusetts Bay 

A proposal that Massachusetts create a special commission to examine the effects of the federal WEP and GPO will be the subject of a joint hearing of the commonwealth’s House of Representatives and Senate. 

The July 25 joint hearing will concern Resolve S. 1656, which calls for an investigation and study by a special commission regarding the effects of the WEP and GPO in Massachusetts. 

The Resolution. State Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Worcester-Norfolk), Assistant Minority Leader in the Massachusetts Senate, introduced the measure. It calls for: 

• the creation of a special commission to investigate and study the effects of the WEP and the GPO on employees who are members of a contributory retirement system in Massachusetts;
• the establishment of an education plan on Social Security offset programs and their effects on those employees; and 
• the ability of those employees to recoup benefits lost due to the WEP and GPO through the expansion of the Massachusetts Deferred Compensation Save Money and Retire Tomorrow Plan.

It calls for the commission to consist of: 

• three members of the Senate, one of whom would be the president of the senate or a designee who would serve as co-chair, one of whom would be the minority leader of the Senate or a designee, and one of whom would be the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service or a designee; and
• three members of the House of Representatives, one of whom would be the speaker of the House or a designee who would serve as co-chair, one of whom would be the minority leader of the House or a designee, and one of whom would be the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service or a designee; and the treasurer and receiver-general or a designee.

The commission would report to the general court the result of its investigation and study and its recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry those recommendations into effect by filing them with the clerk of the Senate and clerk of the House of Representatives on or before June 27, 2025. The commission could issue preliminary or interim reports to the general court before that date.

All Together Now 

There is pressure from other state legislatures for action concerning the WEP and the GPO as well. The Illinois Senate on May 19 adopted SR0007, a resolution calling for the repeal of the WEP and the GPO from the Social Security Act. And in Louisiana, Rep. Michael Johnson (R-Pineville) introduced on May 1 and the House of Representatives on May 16 unanimously adopted HCR67, a resolution that urges Congress to enact legislation to repeal the WEP and the GPO; the state Senate followed suit a week later.