Senate passes Social Security benefits boost for many public service retirees [View all]

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2024, 09:20 AM - Edit history (1)

https://apnews.com/article/social-security-congress-565aaf221de6d607f207e286655eef25

Senate passes Social Security benefits boost for many public service retirees
By STEPHEN GROVES
Updated 11:16 PM CST, December 20, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation early Saturday to boost Social Security payments for millions of people, pushing a longtime priority for former public employees through Congress in one of its last acts for the year.

The bipartisan bill, which next heads to President Joe Biden, will eliminate longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from work in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put further strain on Social Security Trust Funds.

The legislation has been decades in the making but the push to pass it came together in the final weeks — and was completed in the final hours — that lawmakers were in Washington before Congress resets next year. All Senate Democrats except one, as well as 23 Republicans, supported the push to bring it to a final vote in the Senate. The final vote was 76-20.

The bill repeals two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for certain recipients if they receive retirement payments from other sources such as the public retirement program for a state or local government.

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