An important, bipartisan piece of legislation was signed into the law last weekend. The Social Security Fairness Act was made official by the President yesterday following the House passing it 327-75 and the Senate passing it by a vote of 76-20.
This bill repeals provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government. It eliminates the government pension offset, which in various instances reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own.
The bill also eliminates the windfall elimination provision (WEP), which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.
These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023. Guidance has not yet been given for when you should see this in your checks, including the catch-up for 2024, so we'll be watching for that detail.
You can read more about the new legislation here:
Social Security Fairness Act
Even if this doesn't apply to you, we would encourage you to forward this to anyone in your network who may see an increase in benefits. This could be firefighters, police officers, teachers, and others from public sector jobs. |
