President Biden signed a new law on Sunday that will increase Social Security payments for almost 3 million current and former public workers. The law, called the Social Security Fairness Act, gets rid of two rules that had reduced benefits for people who also receive state pensions.
“This law is about one simple idea: Americans who have worked hard their whole lives deserve to retire with security and dignity. That’s what Social Security is for,” Biden said during the signing ceremony at the White House.
Biden explained that the law is important and will allow those affected to start receiving their payments this year. The law repeals two rules, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These rules had reduced Social Security benefits for people like firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and teachers who also had public pensions. The WEP was created to stop people from getting full benefits from both a government pension and Social Security, but many thought it was unfair.
Some critics argue that the new law could pose financial challenges for Social Security in the future. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will add nearly $2 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
Biden admitted that more needs to be done to strengthen Social Security. He suggested that wealthier Americans should pay more to help support the program. “We need to keep working to improve and expand benefits for those who need it most and protect Social Security for the long term,” Biden said.
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