For supporters, the law finally removes limits imposed on benefits for public servants. Critics say it will speed up the Social Security program’s insolvency.
President Joe Biden on Jan. 5 signed into law a bill that would increase Social Security benefits for millions of U.S. citizens who have worked in eligible public service fields.
The bill, dubbed the Social Security Fairness Act, specifically boosts benefits for about 3 million U.S. citizens who have worked in public jobs, particularly affecting those who received state and local pensions separate from Social Security.
“By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors,” Biden said at the signing of the bill on Jan. 5.
In an email to The Epoch Times, a White House official said Biden’s signing of the legislation made him “the first president in twenty years to expand Social Security benefits.”
The official fit the bill into Biden’s larger commitment to Social Security. Both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have repeatedly expressed support for Social Security and opposition to substantial revisions that reduce benefits or raise the retirement age.
The legislation passed the House on Nov. 12 with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 327–75 vote. Later, it passed the Senate in a similarly bipartisan 76–20 vote. Even Republicans, who are more hawkish on government spending and Social Security issues, largely supported the bill.
For supporters, the legislation is a long overdue correction to provisions in the law that limited benefits for public servants. It will get rid of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which previously limited the federal pension that public sector employees could receive based on their other income sources from state and other government pensions.
On the other hand, repealing these provisions—a move broadly supported by a broad cross section of politicians from both parties—is expected to increase the federal government’s Social Security expenditures.
In an earlier analysis in September, the CBO stated that it expects the repeal of the WEP would lead to a net benefits increase of $360 by December 2025 for those affected. Repealing the GPO would contribute to about a $700 monthly benefits boost by December 2025.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, estimated that the bill would cost about $195 billion over the next decade and speed up the Social Security program’s insolvency.
That raises challenges for the already-strained Social Security Trust Funds, which have been hurtling toward insolvency for more than a decade.
The CBO calculated that Social Security is currently set to run out of money sometime around 2033, and that adoption of the Social Security Fairness Act would move that deadline up by about half a year.
The legislation comes as both sides of the political aisle have taken an increasingly favorable view of Social Security, with Trump and his allies vowing repeatedly that they don’t plan on touching either benefits or the retirement age.
That said, the funding is drying up, and fixing the underlying issues with Social Security is likely to become an increasingly urgent priority for legislators in coming years.
Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.
