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Rep. Garret Graves escalates effort to repeal Social Security penalty for teachers, police
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:12 am
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:12 am
quote:
Louisiana Republican Congressman Garret Graves escalated his latest effort to eliminate the Social Security penalty for teachers, police and other workers who also have government pensions, announcing he and Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger have secured 291 cosponsors as they press for a House vote.
“What we’re working on right now is about righting a wrong, addressing an injustice that has been around since the late 1970s and early 1980s," said Graves, who 6th Congressional District includes Baton Rouge and the bayou region.
The 1980s-era Windfall Elimination Penalty (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) prevent government retirees like police, teachers, firefighters, state workers and their spouses who earned pensions from those careers from collecting their full Social Security benefits earned while working outside of government.
Repealing WEP and GPO would increase Social Security benefits for more than 2 million Americans, including 10s of thousands in Louisiana.
Republican Congresswoman Julia Letlow and others in the state delegation have joined Graves' in the decades-long attempt to eliminate WEP and GPO, while Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy is leading the effort in the upper chamber.
quote:
Letlow, who represents the 5th Congressional District with Monroe as the population hub, has said Louisiana would get the seventh greatest benefit among states if the current law was repealed.
She said her office received 3,000 constituent calls during her first year in Congress asking her to support changing the law, the most concerning any issue.
Supporters of the bill thought they had secured enough support last summer to forcer a vote on the House floor, but blamed a procedural maneuver from former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi for stalling the vote in Ways and Means.
Graves and Spanberger were forced to start from scratch in the new Congress and reintroduced the bill in February. Graves is close to current Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which could help finally trigger a vote.
quote:
Opponents of the effort to remove WEP and GPO restrictions argue that repealing the current law will increase the strain already placed on Social Security and its future viability.
The Social Security Board of Trustees has said Social Security will become insolvent in in 2035.
Graves has said the current law discourages people from entering public service professions.
"The WEP and GPO are severe penalties that defund public servants of much of their lifetime of retirement earnings," he said. "The last thing in the world we need to be doing now is defunding teachers, firefighters, police officers and other local and state public servants.
"We're penalizing people who go into public service. This is wrong and unjust. It just doesn't make sense."
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Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:19 am to ragincajun03
Are they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:22 am to ragincajun03
Teachers, fire, and police don’t typically pay or receive SS. I know I don’t pay or receive, maybe it varies by department or parish
Seems like this has something to do with spouses though.
Seems like this has something to do with spouses though.
This post was edited on 9/17/23 at 9:24 am
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:23 am to ragincajun03
This is good. I've known people that have worked for over 10 years in industry and 20 in government. SS is withheld during private employment and they are basically just giving that money away. At an absolute minimum, the SS Administration should be required to cash them out for contributions made.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:23 am to LSU9102
quote:
Are they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should.
They did at one time if they had another job. They should be able to collect based on what they paid in to Social Security while working that job.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:24 am to Mushroom1968
a lot of state workers, if not all, don’t pay into SS at all. They pay into retirement
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:25 am to ragincajun03
If they pay or start paying into it like everyone else they should get the benefit.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:25 am to ragincajun03
Louisiana teachers should move to Alabama. We get both. 
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:27 am to LSU9102
quote:
Are they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should.
Apparently this applies to people who paid into SS in the private sector before or after entering the public. So they DO have skin in the game.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:27 am to ragincajun03
quote:
police, teachers, firefighters, state workers and their spouses who earned pensions from those careers from collecting their full Social Security benefits earned while working outside of government.
This is for people who worked pre, post or had a second job outside their gov job but are forced to choose between their government pension or social security. If you paid into the system, you should get the benefits.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:29 am to StringedInstruments
According to what I've found, Alabama teachers pay into social security, so it's only fair they get to draw from it.
Louisiana has different rules. I don't have eyes on the entire picture, but some teachers in Louisiana don't pay into social security.
If that is the case, I don't think it's fair they can draw on an investment pool they haven't contributed to.
Louisiana has different rules. I don't have eyes on the entire picture, but some teachers in Louisiana don't pay into social security.
If that is the case, I don't think it's fair they can draw on an investment pool they haven't contributed to.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:35 am to LSU9102
quote:
Are they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should
No, they aren't.
They may have paid some at the very beginning of their work life, but usually not enough to qualify for any benefits before they get into a pension system
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:39 am to LSU9102
These are two related but different provisions:
Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)-Basically if you got a portion of your earnings from a job not covered by Social Security, you will get hit by a penalty on your benefits. Exactly how much is a determined by a formula.
Government Pension Offset (GPO)- If you spouse is in Soc Sec and you are not, when your spouse dies your survivor benefits are hit with a penalty.
The most common situation is a teacher who gets a state pension and is not in soc sec. Her husband who worked in the private sector dies. The government takes a chunk of the benefits. Which is bullshite. If the wife NEVER worked she would get the whole thing.
It is completely a cost-saving move that screws widows most of whom are teachers.
Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)-Basically if you got a portion of your earnings from a job not covered by Social Security, you will get hit by a penalty on your benefits. Exactly how much is a determined by a formula.
Government Pension Offset (GPO)- If you spouse is in Soc Sec and you are not, when your spouse dies your survivor benefits are hit with a penalty.
The most common situation is a teacher who gets a state pension and is not in soc sec. Her husband who worked in the private sector dies. The government takes a chunk of the benefits. Which is bullshite. If the wife NEVER worked she would get the whole thing.
It is completely a cost-saving move that screws widows most of whom are teachers.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:46 am to LSU9102
quote:teachers do not pay into ss on their checks(louisiana). But many teachers work other jobs that pull ss from those checks and many teachers completed the 40 quarters(amount of work done over time) that are required for full benefit at the correct ages around retirement. They should be eligible to recieve full ss benefit at the age group they are listed in. As it stands now, a retired teacher who also worked enough outside of the teacher profession(after school, summers,leaving the teaching field etc) can only recieve a small portion of ss benefits if old enough because they are on a full pension from the state from being a teacher because of the stupid WEP. My sister in law is a teacher and is hopefully this stupid law is throw out. This to me is wrong. If they are eligible to receive the full amount of ss then so be it regardless what they make from the trsl.
they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should.
This post was edited on 9/17/23 at 11:30 pm
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:50 am to theunknownknight
quote:In Alabama they definitely pay into both
a lot of state workers, if not all, don’t pay into SS at all. They pay into retirement
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:52 am to udtiger
quote:
quote:
Are they paying into Social Security because if they are not they should
No, they aren't.
Wrong... Many of us have!
I worked my 40 quarters... summers, 2nd jobs, before I graduated, after I retired , and taught in one district that made us pay both teacher retirement and Social Security.
I want my fair share of what I paid into SS for over 40 years... not 35% of what everyone who wasn't a teacher gets...
I worked, I paid and I get penalized because I was also a teacher?? That's BS.
This post was edited on 9/17/23 at 9:56 am
Posted on 9/17/23 at 9:54 am to 18handicap
quote:totally agree.
worked, I paid and I penalized because I was also a teacher?? That's BS
Posted on 9/17/23 at 10:01 am to 18handicap
I have no issue with it if people have accumulated enough quarters to qualify.
Posted on 9/17/23 at 10:09 am to ragincajun03
Why don’t teachers and state workers just pay into social security?
Why doesn’t the state just set up 401k/Roth 401k accounts for state workers?
Why doesn’t the state just set up 401k/Roth 401k accounts for state workers?
This post was edited on 9/17/23 at 10:11 am
Posted on 9/17/23 at 10:09 am to LSU9102
It for work preformed outside their government positions either before they became one or a second job
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