Social Security Alerts, News & Updates
Pressure builds to implement Social Security Fairness Act raises
- Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins is demanding the Social Security Administration quickly implement the Social Security Fairness Act.
- The act, signed into law in January, repeals penalties that prevented government retirees from collecting their full Social Security benefits.
- The average monthly increase in benefits is $360, but many recipients could see monthly raises of $1,000 or more.
- Higgins argues that the Social Security Administration should be able to implement the act more quickly than the current timeline of one year or more.
Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins has joined a growing list of lawmakers demanding quick implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act, which will give raises to retired teachers, police, and other public service workers and their spouses.
Former President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law Jan. 5, but Social Security Administration officials have said implementation could take a year or more.
The law, sponsored by former Republican Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves, repealed the Windfall Elimination Penalty and Government Pension Offset, which prevented 3 million government retirees who earned pensions from those careers from collecting their full benefits earned while working outside of government.
Nearly 100,000 Louisiana retirees will benefit.
“Those who have suffered under the failures of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) do not have the time to wait a year or more until they start seeing changes to their benefits,” Higgins wrote in a letter to acting Commissioner Michelle King, who was appointed by President Trump on his first day in office.
“I understand the major task of implementing the Social Security Fairness Act—updating the benefits of over 3.2 million individuals will not be done overnight,” continued Higgins, a Republican from Lafayette. “However, the American people deserve excellent performance.”
The average monthly benefit increase is $360, but many recipients could see monthly raises of $1,000 or more. Since the act is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, many people will eventually receive a lump sum for back payments as well as a monthly raise.
Earlier this month Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy joined a bipartisan group of 27 senators urging King to accelerate implementation.
“We call for the immediate implementation of this legislation to provide prompt relief to the millions of Americans impacted by WEP and GPO,” Cassidy and his colleagues wrote to King.
“Getting the Social Security Fairness Act through Congress was a big priority, and now making sure the Social Security Administration implements it quickly is just as important,” Cassidy said in a statement to USA Today Network.
Higgins said the new Trump administration has shown it can act quickly. The implementation timeline had initially been set while Biden was in office.
“The Trump Administration has presented a robust capacity for accelerating government efficiency and identification of waste,” he wrote. “In this spirit, I encourage SSA to reevaluate this timeline, considering the potential prioritization of resources and staff to expedite implementation. Further, I request a response detailing SSA’s current implementation plan and how the current year-long timeline was reached.”
More:Senators demand quick implementation of Social Security Fairness Act for police, teachers
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.