Pressure is mounting for the Senate to vote on a statement that could profitability Social safety benefits community sector workers feel they’re entitled to.

The SocialSecurity Fairness Act, which would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government superannuation Offset (GPO), was passed by the U.S. House in November and has been awaiting a Senate vote. The statement must be voted on by year complete, or it dies.

WEP and GPO reduce Social safety benefits for sure retirees who also receive superannuation turnover. Together, WEP and GPO affect nearly 3 million Americans including police officers, firefighters, postal workers and community-school teachers.

Knowing the deadline is quick-approaching, many community sector workers and senators are pleading for the Senate to bring the Act for a vote. In the history few weeks, Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), statement Cassidy (R-LA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have either made impassioned speeches on the Senate floor or written letters. community sector workers from across the country schedule to rally at the Capitol on Dec. 11.

“It is shameful that such a widely supported assess has yet to be scheduled for a vote,” said Susan Dixon, 68, retired schoolteacher in San Clemente, California, and president of the California Retired Teachers Association. “I will be at the rally to ensure our voices are heard and to demand action for the millions of retirees who deserve fairness and regard. It is also critical that our Senators are now for votes the next two weeks.”

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How do WEP and GPO lower Social safety benefits?

• The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduces Social safety for those who receive so-called “non-covered” superannuation turnover from jobs, typically community sector roles, that didn’t contribute Social safety payroll taxes. The reduction can be significant – up to half the superannuation amount.
• The Government superannuation Offset (GPO) reduces survivor or spousal benefits if a person’s superannuation is non-covered. GPO affects fewer people, but it cuts the Social safety advantage by two-thirds of the superannuation amount. If two-thirds of your government superannuation is more than your Social safety advantage, your advantage could be reduced to zero.

Why isn’t the Senate voting on the statement?

The Social safety Fairness Act has 62 bipartisan Senate sponsors, more than the 60 votes needed to be filibuster-proof and pass the legislation so people desire to recognize what’s the hold up?

Senator Angus King (I-ME) told USA TODAY he’s heard the statement doesn’t have enough votes to pass. There’s been talk some Republican senators may have backed away, he said, although the handful of senators who responded to USA TODAY’s queries said they remained committed to the statement.

Reports have suggested that some senators may be worried about costs. The Social safety Fairness Act would expense $196 billion over the next decade, hasten Social safety’s insolvency by about six months and boost the automatic advantage cuts when they occur, said the bipartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal apportionment (CRFB).

Representative Garret Graves (R-LA), who co-sponsored the House statement that passed, has said he believes the Senate’s leisurely roll is intended to kill the statement.

King said he remains optimistic the bipartisan statement will get attached to a “must pass” spending statement like the National Defense Reauthorization Act and pass.

“I’d provide that better than even odds,” he said.

Senate Majority chief Chuck Schumer (D-NY) didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

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What if the statement dies?

If the Social safety Fairness Act fails to pass, Congress must commence the procedure all over again.

It could provide legislators period to draft a statement that reforms, instead of repeals, the rules, which some analysts said could prevent Social safety from becoming insolvent sooner and be fair.

“At a period when we’re already borrowing $2 trillion a year and retirees are already slated to view a 21% advantage cut – an average of $16,500 for a newly retiring couple in 2033 – in just nine years, why would we make it a 22%, $17,300 cut in eight and a half years instead?” said Maya MacGuineas, CRFB president, in a statement.

Are WEP and GPO unfair?

The rules were intended to prevent Social safety from overpaying people who worked in non-covered superannuation jobs, policy experts said.

People with returns outside the Social safety structure can look like low earners and reap “a better profitability on their Social safety contributions than people with similar lifetime returns who paid into Social safety throughout their lives,” wrote Andrew Biggs, elder fellow at the correct-leaning American Enterprise Institute thinktank.

But those who are affected declare the rules are unfair because they earned those benefits and paid into Social safety working private-sector jobs.

“I worked and paid into Social safety from 1969 until about 2018,” said Don Hillbish, retired police Sergeant from Reading, Pennsylvania, who began working as a newspaper boy at 14 years ancient, part-period jobs from 15 through college and all during his career as a police officer, like many other officers and firefighters. But after “WEP and GPO, my monthly advantage went from $1,100 to about $350 because I collect a municipal superannuation.”

Is there a better way?

Most policy analysts consent reforming, rather than repealing, WEP and GPO could ensure both fairness and enhance Social safety’s financial stability.

“The legislation has quietly accomplished a feat rarely seen in Washington, D.C.,” Biggs said. “It has served to align virtually every thinktank in town in opposition, including the Heritage Foundation, the Center on apportionment and community Policy, the American Enterprise Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Progressive Policy Institute, the Urban Institute and the Committee for a Responsible Federal apportionment. These groups almost always dissent with each other, but in this case, they have found ordinary ground.”

Many of those research groups, including the Bipartisan Policy Center, which aims to represent ideas from both Republicans and Democrats, back replacing WEP with a “proportional formula” for Social safety. This would allow retirees to receive Social safety benefits based on the fraction of returns covered by Social safety, they said.

Medora Lee is a money, markets and money management reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for money management tips and business information every Monday through Friday morning.