Back on March 23, LouisianaVoice informed you there were 111 co-sponsors for HR-82 , the decade-old (at least) effort to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) programs that adversely impact the retirement earnings of certain government employees in Louisiana as well as the spouses of others who pay into Social Security all their working lives.
As of today, there are now 138 co-sponsors to the resolution, including the same four Republican House members we named in March: Reps. Garret Graves, Clay Higgins, Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.
Newcomers Julia Letlow and Troy Carter may be excused for not signing on yet as they – especially Carter who was just elected a week ago – have barely had time to introduce themselves to their staff members.
But it might be of some interest to affected Louisianans to know that the four Louisiana Republicans are among only 37 Republican members of the House who have signed on as CO-SPONSORS, compared to 101 Democrats.
That should be enough to cause some to wonder just who it is that truly has the concerns of working Americans at heart. Is it the Party of Lincoln cum Trump, which pays lip service to looking out for the middle class, or those damned tax (the wealthy) and spend Socialist Democrats?
But not to worry. HR-82 can pick up 435 House members as co-sponsors and 100 senators (those are the total number of seats in both chambers, for those who may not know) who give lip-service approval, but you will never see it come to a vote.
The reason is quite simple: neither party is particularly concerned about the inability of Louisiana’s school teachers to collect SS benefits even though their private sector spouses paid into the system their entire working lives. Nor do they care that state civil service employees who had previously worked in the private sector will have SS benefits offset by some federal formula that no one understands.
And these prohibitions are not limited to Louisiana: There are 14 other states that are impacted by this GPO provision.
LouisianaVoice will continue to monitor HR-82 but don’t get your hopes up. This resolution has been introduced every year since at least 2008 when it had 352 co-sponsors, far more than the 290 needed for a veto-proof majority.
The GPO and the WEP are nothing more than a hidden tax subterfuge on working Americans that has no chance of repeal.
Louisiana Voice 
It’s all a crock. U work 40 to 60 years in some cases and get screwed. The asses in Washington make sure they are taken care of and don’t give a rat’s ass about u. Well you can get back at them if you quit paying taxes. Oh they may send the IRS after you but it will be to late. By the time they collect u will be dead and gone and if you have to do time everything will be free and you will be living in a new retirement home rent free.
As a point of clarification, no everyone is affected. If one spouse works in the private sector and the other does not work, or if both spouses work in the private sector, they remain eligible for survivor benefits under SS. Only when one or more spouses work as a civil servant for one of 15 states (including Louisiana) affected would there be any reduction (or ineligibility) in SS benefits.
How about the folks who had an additional 6.2% for the past “40 to 60 years”, using your example? Are you really saying that if you didn’t pay into SSA for all the years you work you are entitled to the same $$ as the folks who did? If so, I guess you truly believe in Socialism and what difference then does any of this make
No, that’s nothing like what I said. I said teachers whose spouses DO work and pay into the system their entire working lives are not entitled to receive that spouse’s benefits the same way any other widow(er) might.
Louisiana state employees (as well as those of one other state – Oregon, I believe) do not receive SS benefits because they don’t pay into the system, paying instead into a retirement system run by the state. I’m one of those but I did pay into SS for many years before going to work for the state, so I receive SS – just not the full benefit because of the offset, and I have no problem with that. It’s the 100% exclusion of teachers who are unable to draw on deceased spouses’ benefits even though the spouse paid into the system their entire careers.
Before you start calling names, perhaps you should take a remedial reading course.
Our esteemed state and federal elected representatives and senators are banking on their constituents not reading your column and/or retaining the belief they (said elected officials) tried as hard as they could to right this wrong (among others). Talk is cheap and they know it is okay to misrepresent everything nowadays in full faith most of their constituents don’t care. How many Republicans STILL believe re-election was stolen from 45 and even more ridiculous things than that? Answer: A lot.
The 15 states should file a class-action lawsuit.
The GPO eliminated my SS widows benefit. The WEP has practically eliminated any SS benefit I may receive, yet I am forced to enroll in Medicare at age 65 at my expense. I have prior to CSRS employment, and am still working under SS now. I cannot afford to fully retire with just my CSRS annuity. Much to look forward to. I do not want to be forced into selling my home and moving to senior housing and lose my independence. Both the GPO and WEP must be repealed. There are more than 1,948,427 beneficiaries affected by WEP including 1,836,538 retirees. The GPO affects 716,662 beneficiaries, 47 % of whom are widows or widowers. About 71% of those affected by the GPO had their benefits fully offset, while 29% were partially offset. This is according to NARFE magazine.
Tom – Can you explain why the WEP and GPO provisions apply to only some (half or less) states? Or point me in the right direction?
Certainly. They apply only to those states that (like Louisiana) have their own retirement systems and do not participate in social security. WEP and GPO programs do not apply to states that pay into to the SS system.
That, of course, still does not justify barring widowed teachers from drawing on their spouses’ benefits.
It is July 22, 2022 and there are 293 co-sponsors of HR 82 to repeal the SSA’s WEP/GPO. The Speaker of the House is required by law to call for a vote on any Bill with 290 co-sponsors. Despite required by law Nancy Pelosi will not allow the members of the House of Representatives to vote yea or nay on the HR Bill 82. This decision will costs many of the co-sponsors and Pelosi many votes in November of 2022 and will hopefully cause a drastic change in the membership of the House in January 2023.
So, what’s your explanation for when a Republican was Speaker and there were a sufficient number of co-sponsors but still was no vote?
You are correct. As of July 22, it does indeed have 293 co-sponsors. But at the time of my last report, it was 284. The fact that it now has 293 is of little consequence. It is given only a 2% chance of passage. Introduced on Jan 4, 2021
“This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on January 4, 2021. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.” (from the official congressional vote-tracking web page: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr82)
Bottom line: we’ve been here before – sufficient votes to pass a veto-proof bill but not the willingness to bring it to a vote. If it does come up for a vote – AND PASSES – I will happily print an apology.