Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves is hailing the overwhelming House passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. The bill that passed 327 to 75 eliminates the Windfall Elimination Penalty and the Government Pension Offset. Graves says Louisiana has been among the most impacted by these two provisions.
“(There have been) literally hundreds of billions of dollars in reductions to their social security benefits. People have been trying to fight this, Republicans and Democrats, trying to fight to fix this for over forty years,” Graves said.
The two provisions had the effect of reducing Social Security benefits for people who worked in the public sector, such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. Graves and co-sponsor Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia, filed a discharge petition to force a vote, and a strong majority signed on to it.
“We tried to sit there and work with folks. We tried to come to a consensus position, had great negotiations, but ultimately, we’re up against a wall on timing and so we used this rarely used mechanism to force this bill for a vote,” Graves explained.
The bill now goes to the Senate, which has only a limited amount of time to consider the bill and pass it so that it can get onto President Biden’s desk. Graves says the House spoke loud and clear, and that should force the Senate’s hand.
“They have a bill that passes with a majority of Republicans, a majority of Democrats, in this polarized environment. In the aftermath of an election, at the end of the year, I mean, this is huge momentum behind this effort,” Graves said.
Opponents say eliminating those two provisions would put additional strain on the already-strained Social Security.
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