A House-passed bill to reform aspects of Social Security is lingering in the Senate as questions bubble up over its path forward.
The House approved the bill — which would do away with rules backers say have led to unfair reductions in benefits for some who have worked in public service — by a wide margin earlier this month. But some are concerned about the measure’s chances in the Senate as lawmakers face a ticking clock before a new Congress is ushered in.
“There’s been some talk about trying to make it part of the end-of-the-year negotiation. I think that’s, I think that’s really an effort to kill it,” outgoing Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who co-authored the bill, said before Congress left town for Thanksgiving recess.
Graves expressed confidence that the bill, which passed with nearly 300 votes in the House, has the support in the Senate to pass as a stand-alone bill. But he added that “anything else is really putting us on a slow path toward death — and I think it’s intentional.”
If passed, the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act, would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Experts say the tax rules are aimed at preventing people who have worked much of their careers in public service from collecting both their pensions and relatively higher Social Security payouts. The GPO also leads to reductions in benefits for the spouses that receive government pensions.
But cases where the policies have led to over- or undercorrections for beneficiaries have helped fuel calls for reforms or a complete overhaul of the measures.
