A member of the Retired State Employees Association (RSEA), recently received an interesting letter from U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise that served as a bitter reminder of how Congress continues to give lip service to working on behalf of constituents while in truth, they have no interest in certain programs that could benefit thousands of voters back home. The Scalise letter was forwarded to Frank Jobert of the Office of Group Benefits specialist for RSEA and LouisianaVoice eventually obtained a copy.
The Scalise letter was in response to RSEA member’s own letter to Scalise regarding something called the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), programs that affect retired government employees of Louisiana and 25 other states. More about those programs in a bit.
Scalise’s letter opens with the pseudo-solicitous – and unimaginative – acknowledgement common to most elected officials: “It is an honor to represent the First Congressional District of Louisiana and your thoughts and concerns are important to me.” What a crock.
He then goes immediately into explaining WEP and GPO. WEP, he said, “reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered under Social Security.”
He’s correct about that, all right. If an individual – like yours truly, for example – works for several years in the private sector before taking a state job in a civil service capacity, his Social Security benefits are offset, or reduced, because he’s drawing a state retirement that does not contribute to the Social Security program.
That is patently unfair because the individual did, in fact, pay into Social Security during all those years in the private sector. It was his investment in the program that guaranteed him a retirement income but now he is not entitled to draw his full benefits he would otherwise be entitled to. In my particular case, the offset is (fortunately for me) minimal because I worked for so many years in the private sector that I had nearly all the quarters (three-month sectors of a working year) to qualify for full benefits. But for many, that offset can be a tough pill to swallow because the retiree will realize only a small fraction of what he should be entitled to receive, based on his contributions during his private sector working years.
Scalise continued: “This provision lowers the amount that a retiree receives through Social Security.” Yep, that’s what I just explained.
But then Scalise goes into the GPO, which he said “also affects those government employees with spouses who work in the private sector and pay into the Social Security system.”
This, perhaps, is the most unfair provision of all – and it’s a damned sneaky one. A teacher whose spouse earns a six-figure income is impacted by this provision in a most negative manner. That spouse will have paid a hefty amount into Social Security by his/her retirement age – likely well into six figures (and double that when allowing for the employer’s equal contribution). But guess what? Should that spouse die, the surviving school teacher will receive not a single dime of the spouse’s contributions. Nothing. Nil. Zilch. Zip. Nada.
Only because the surviving spouse is a public school teacher who is a member of a teacher retirement system that does not participate in Social Security. Never mind that the dead spouse may have paid tens of thousands of dollars into Social Security. No survivor benefits for you, no sir, no ma’am.
There are 15 states, Louisiana included, that are impacted by this ridiculous GPO provision.
So, what happens to the contributions of the spouse and his/her employer all those years? The guvmint just keeps it. To reiterate, because the deceased worker’s spouse was a public school teacher, that teacher is not entitled to a cent of the spouse’s survivor benefits.
That is patently unfair and it’s something Congress should have fixed years ago.
Scalise said in his letter to Jobert that he’s trying. Yeah, right. “I completely agree with you that the WEP and GPO are unfair and should be repealed,” he sniffed. “As a Member of the Louisiana State Legislature, I co-authored a resolution calling on Congress to address these issues that affect so many Louisiana families.” Of course, a legislative “resolution” carries no weight of law and besides, state legislators are pretty impotent when it comes to telling Congress what to do, so Scalise’s “resolution” was a fairly weak attempt at a solution.
But wait. “In Congress, I have continued to support measures that address these concerns,” he wrote. “You will be pleased to know that I am cosponsor of HR. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021, introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Illinois). This legislation would repeal both the WEP and GPO. Please know I will continue to advocate for repealing unfair provisions like the WEP and GPO while serving in Congress.”
Well, that’s a relief. At last, they’re doing something.
But not so fast here. It seems this is a resolution they’ve been kicking around for a number of years up there inside the Beltway – with little to nothing to show for it.
Let’s take a closer look at the co-sponsors of HR 82. The resolution, authored by a Republican, has 111 CO-SPONSORS to date, including all four Louisiana Republicans – Scalise, Clay Higgins, Garret Graves and Mike Johnson. Among those 111 co-sponsors of the Republican-authored resolution are 77 Democrats, meaning the bill appears to have widespread bipartisan support. The resolution will likely pick up a couple hundred more co-sponsors before the session ends, but don’t look for a vote.
And that’s exactly the way they like it.
This isn’t the resolution’s first rodeo.
It’s reared its head every year since at least 2008 and still it languishes.
Why?
Because Congress has absolutely no intention of passing this resolution, no intention of bringing it to a full House vote.
How do I know that? Simple math. In 2008, HR 82 had an eye-popping 352 CO-SPONSORS out of 435 representatives. That’s 81 percent of the total House membership. It takes a simple majority, or 218 votes, to pass a resolution and 292 (a two-thirds majority) votes to override a possible presidential veto. If every co-sponsor voted in favor of the resolution, it would not only sail through, but would be a veto-proof bill. In fact, with that kind of bipartisan support, no sane president would dare veto it.
That time, the author was a Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman of California, which would indicate the bill had true bipartisan support. Of the 352 co-sponsors back then, 215 were Democrats (just three co-sponsors short of a majority) and 137 were Republicans. Each of Louisiana’s then-eight-member delegation, consisting of five Republicans and three Democrats, signed on as co-sponsors. They were Democrats Charles Melancon, William Jefferson and Donald Cazayoux, and Republicans Scalise, Richard Baker, Bobby Jindal, Rodney Alexander and Charles Boustany.
So, why wasn’t the resolution, with such broad support, obviously enough to get it passed with ease, brought to a vote?
There’s an old joke about bacon and eggs where the punch line has the pig saying to the chicken, “For you, it’s just a contribution, but for me it’s a commitment.” In congressional parlance, a resolution is the egg; bringing it to a vote is a commitment.
In other words, don’t hold your breath for Congress to share the bacon with you.
The sad truth of the matter is the WEP and GPO are nothing less than legislative subterfuge – taxation of working Americans, a tax that Congress has no intention, indeed, has never had any intention, of reforming or repealing.
And this tactic can be blamed exclusively on neither the Republicans nor the Democrats in Congress; it’s just plain old garden-variety, screw-the-taxpayer politics that’s played so well by both parties in D.C. under the guise of representation.
It’s a pretty cruel joke and it’s on us.
And when Scalise, Johnson, Higgins and Graves run for reelection, they’ll likely remind us of how they fought for the repeal of the WEP and GPO provisions of Social Security for the benefit of public employees and teachers.
When we talk about scams, the one most ignored is the one being run up in Washington. It certainly beats those car warranty and student loan reduction calls you keep getting.
Louisiana Voice 
This is personally so frustrating to me because after teaching for a number of years, I receive almost no retirement benefits. I worked under social security in private schools and other places for half my career, and at LSU for the other half, meaning I wasn’t vested in teacher retirement and came out with only a small alternate retirement account. My husband worked all his working years under SS, paying the maximum. Because of that minimal retirement account, which would disappear in no time if I drew on it, I receive only a little over $300 in SS after medicare comes out. Thank goodness my husband is still alive and has his benefits or I would be totally screwed. That is why I am still working part-time at 76. My brother worked his whole life under SS, and died one month after retiring at 65. His wife was a teacher who receives nothing from all his years of working and has only her teacher retirement benefits.
‘Scuse me, that really sucks. I was one of the lucky ones; working in the private sector for 35 years before going Civil Service. My heart goes out to all stuck in that conundrum.
Tom: This is frank Jobert, Legislative Director of RSEA and OGB Retiree Representative of the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) Policy and Planning Board. I just read your article about the WEP/GPO and I very much agree with your assessment of the situation on the WEP/GPO. Below you will find a reply from me to an inquiry I received from an RSEA member about her plight with the SS Offsets. In fact, her state pension is $65 “too large” thereby costing her the loss of her deceased husband’s $1600 per month Social Security benefit due to the GPO. This is my reply to her:
Thank you for calling me yesterday and for your follow-up email. I fully understand your plight and I can sympathize with your financial condition. Unfortunately, I receive too many calls and emails from retirees like yourself who are undergoing similar financial hardships.
My greatest disappointment as the Legislative Director of RSEA is the continued unfairness of the WEP and GPO and our inability to repeal this harmful legislation. I receive more calls and emails about the WEP and GPO than OGB insurance issues or lack of COLA’s for retirees. In fact, the WEP/GPO calls account for more than the OGB and COLA calls/emails combined!!
I am beginning to question the will and sincerity of our elected members of the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to repeal or even partially repeal the Social Security Offsets known as the WEP and GPO. While I continue to hope and pray for their repeal, and am grateful that legislation has been introduced for many years purporting to repeal the offsets, I am beginning to lose hope. The filing of the bills themselves offer some element of hope on the one hand, but I wonder aloud if it is a false hope on the other hand ?
Frank Jobert, RSEA Legislative Director
Tom, I sometimes wonder aloud are we being used or abused by our Congressional leadership for election/reelection purposes by the constant introduction/re-introduction of SS Offset legislation that goes nowhere. I will continue to work on behalf of our retirees to get relief from the WEP/GPO because they need the help and because its their money they are being cheated out of. With articles like yours, we can continue to keep a spotlight on the problem and hopefully achieve a resolution for all concerned in the near future.
You may be right… Elimination of these are part of Biden’s SS policies, but I’ll believe it when I see it! JB
It took years to correct military pay on survivor benefits. I am not an expert but I suspect it would take a hell of a lot of money to correct this including money from employers. Mr Jobert, you are absolutely correct. But, if we can’t pass reasonable gun control…..please keep up your good work thanks ron thompson
Looking forward to Sen. J Kennedy’s comment about “idiot problem.” Sen. Cornpone must have a dementia problem.
He does not address the fact if you are divorced, a teacher that went back to work to put kids through college just surviving with a small pension, gets nothing from ex gov offset, gets only $225 a month from Her SS even though they have 21 years of payment to SS. Tell me how this does not punish teachers and divorced women? I am one of these! Now 73 all my savings gone, Really wrecked my golden years to grey years!
Your case only illustrates in the most graphic terms the hypocrisy of our elected officials when they tell us how they’re working so hard on our behalf. These kinds of cases need to be exposed in every election campaign.
Same story. I didn’t realize I would not be able to collect full benefits from SS for my 40 credits earned prior to teaching in California for 15 years until I applied. I was shocked to learn I would receive enough to pay for medicare and little more. I would have taught longer!
Hi Tom, I submitted your article to 60 Minutes along with a letter explaining why this issue needs to be brought to a national level and the “sincerity and accountability” of our Representatives questioned in a very public forum. Thank you for all you do!
Catherine Altazan
So what’s the game plan now? How do we finally get this WEP repealed? It would be good if we could bring this to national attention, rather than some obscure website that nobody but those affected read. TV ads? Full page ad in the Washington Post or NY Times?
Well, Gary, this may well be an obscure website that no one but those affected read, but I’m damned well the only one presenting the unvarnished facts about this right now. You can take that any way you wish.
I have lived with this since it started in 1975. First of all, it does not effect just teachers, it is all government employees. No matter if you work for the city, parish, state or federal government, from ditch diggers all the way up. In the beginning, all states were to decide if they wanted to be a SS state or have their own retirement systems. Louisiana decided not to be a SS state thinking that they could do more for their employees than SS could. And to be honest, they were right. I make more than I would on SS. As I stated, it started in 1975, You had to have your 40 units by 1985. If you did, you were exempt from the plan. I began teaching in 1976, I knew about it at that time and worked many part time, minimum wage jobs to make ends meet on my salary. Because I knew I would I never see those SS benefits I would beg my employers not not to take it out of my checks. You can imagine what the reply was–“no can do” I was a member of the National Education Association (NEA) and went to D.C. on many occasions to tape TV and radio spots that were aired all over the country and to be trained on how to give workshops in my area to explain how it all works. I was given videos to use that were filled with horror stories of those affected from other states. And of course there were plenty to go around from our folks during my presentations. A formula is used to determine how much spousal support one can get. Teachers and many others make too much to receive anything. There is another formula for those who put in their own money. When this all started it was about 30% of your benefit. By the time I retired in 2008, it was up to 60%. Congress upped the ante now and then through the years. I do no know what it is now. But, when I applied, I was told that, once again, that my retirement benefit was too large and my benefit would be a little less than 50%. I was not as lucky as Kay. All of my SS benefit is taken to pay for my Medicare plus $1,000 out of my pocket which must be paid in one lump sum yearly. I begged to pay monthly or quarterly but again was told-“no can do.” So, yes Gary, this is not a secret. Just about everyone knows about it–especially if you have or have had a government job. And yes, we are in constant contact with our congressmen and women to change it. Even our Louisiana legislators have gotten on board and are contacting our members of congress to do something about it.
This is sad. Civil service retirees are entitled to this. Lord knows y’all get what y’all want. We cannot live on state retirement. Yet we cannot even get a raise.
Civil Service retirees are entitled to full SS benefits only if they paid into the system for the required quarters. If they never worked in the private sector, they never paid into SS and would not be entitled. I was writing only about those who have worked in the private sector as well as civil service or of people like teachers who will receive nothing in survivor benefits from their spouses’ SS.
If you or your spouse never paid into SS, you are not entitled to benefits.
Take a look at HR 2337 by Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. This measure deals with the WEP only and increases the benefit by $150 per month, while maintaining the current exemptions for the WEP. The Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Neal, is dominated by Democrats and has a good chance of passage. If the bill does not get heard or pass out of his committee, we are going nowhere fast! The House and Senate and White House are controlled by Democrats and the President even advocated for change on the campaign trail in 2020 to address the WEP and GPO offsets. Therefore, it has the best chance of passage, in my opinion. If the WEP bill does pass, I am told there will be a separate bill to address the GPO at a subsequent date. While not a “total” fix, it would be recognition by Congress and the President that a problem does exist and it puts us on a path to future consideration for further relief. Only time will tell if this bill passes or not, but at least it is cause for some “hope,” without being a “false hope.” Stay tuned for future developments!
Frank Jobert, RSEA Legislative Director
P.S. HR 2337 has already garnered 146 Co-sponsors since April 1, 2021.
Listen here Mr. Scalise
Stop the B.S.
You have no intention to bring these long standing injustices to the floor for a vote
You just talk about it and nothing happens.
You sir are a RINO, a distinction well earned .
I’ll lose $3000 per month because of your lack of courage
I fell just short of enough years of quarters to not be penalized by the WEP. I didn’t fully understand the GPO until reading these posts. I don’t feel as resentful about my loss realizing the GPO actually plays a game with the timing of the death of a retiree. What kind of minds came up with that as a way to increase the coiffure of Social Security to have it available for other uses?
As a teacher I never made over 50000 a year, Congress gets 170,000 plus benefits and pensions, I get 225 from SS and a small pension of 10 years, how is this fair? I was never told of this wep and gov offset till they took it all away!
I received a letter from SS up to two years before I retired telling me I would get full SS. They stopped it in 2010, of sending to workers. Was unaware I would be cheated of my golden years! Shame on you congress and senate, you pack your pockets while seniors are suffering.
Help survivors and widows GPO WINDFALL ELIMINATION PROVISION WILL TAKE IT ALL , I will get a small pension but I was counting on my husband ssa to make it he passed away so don’t know how I will survive without his paid in full SSA THAT IS STEALING EARNED INCOME FROM US. Don’t let this go on STOP THIS MADNESS . 🙏✝️👵🏻
Over all the years what happen to our WEP money taken from us?
I Want what I worked for!
America, our great U.S. of America is going down the drain. When someone can take your money your earned (not money just given to you, but EARNED) and tell you that you can’t have it, I wonder why don’t they give their money also. This is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever seen. I have worked 24 years under Social Security and 10 years under the state and live on $1300 a month. They are taking money from me and I am trying to get food stamps and govt. assistance which I will probably qualify for since I only get $400.00 from Social Security which goes to pay for medicare, secondary insurance and prescription medication. Plus they said they overpaid me $11,500.00 because they forgot to apply the WEP and now they are demanding I pay them back. I will have to go on govt. assistance for sure now, because they are holding ALL of my check until 2024 until the overpayment is payed back. I am paying back the money which should be mine to begin with.
But we can hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegals that break our laws and never paid anything into the system.
Yes, but consider this: if American homeowners, roofers, landscapers, carpenters, concrete finishes, etc. weren’t hiring them and paying them “off the books,” do you think they’d still be trying to get into this country? The answer is no.
It’s like the drug problem in this country: without a demand, there would be no supply.
So, until we stop paying them in order to deprive Americans of work because we can get cheaper labor from the Latinos, the problem ain’t going away.
You may want to think about that before your next rant.
I am affected as well since I am a Louisiana school teacher about to retire. My SS will be reduced by 2/3 and I will never see a dime of my husband’s SS.
I found out that AARP does not support the repeal of WEO/ GPO so I cancelled my membership after telling them why.
Louisiana retired school teachers need to write to AARP!!!
I’m retired Law Enforcement in the state of Ohio, SS benefit reduced to 40% with 17 years of substantial earnings. My congressman (Jim Renacci) a few years ago after asking his support for repeal of the Windfall Provision said to me, “You’rE getting a state pension and now your just trying to take an unfair advantage of the SS system.” The state governor told me he would not support anything that would have a negative monetary impact on the SS system. So it’s going to be a very hard fight to overcome that type of thinking. Hoping for better representation now.
I think we need to show up at our state capital and do a lot of screaming. Apparently the politicians are NOT even trying to do the right thing. Lets see about social security taking money from the politicians and see how they think it would be fair. Yes all politicians need to give up 2/3 of their paychecks..
That would do little good because its a federal issue with Congress, not the state legislature. That’s one of the problems with American voters – they are not properly informed. Blaming the legislature for this would be like blaming your postman for Amazon’s damaging your package.
What can we do? I need and was told I would receive a certain amount of money each month before I retired and now I am up the creek without a paddle. Social Security has destroyed my retirement life and all they can say is that they aren’t responsible for any mistakes at all. Just how do you destroy someone’s life and say to me, sorry we are not responsible for any of our mistakes. You will just have to deal with it. For 2 years I kept asking them are you sure this is the amount I will receive? Because they gave in incorrect information, I am now about to lose my house. I was counting on what they told me I would get to set up my retirement and they have destroyed all hope of a decent retirement. I am now out looking for a job because of Social Security. I would NOT have retired if they had done their job and gave me correct information. I would NOT have retired when I did. This is a messed up country when you have to work and give your earnings to someone else.