IAFF President Edward Kelly: “Spanberger Fought to Ensure Virginia’s First Responders Have the Staffing and Resources Needed to Keep Communities Safe”

In July, the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Endorsed Spanberger to Serve as Virginia’s Next Governor

RICHMOND, Va. — In a new Roanoke Times op-ed, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Edward Kelly highlights Spanberger’s record of working across the aisle to deliver for Virginia’s fire fighters and first responders — specifically, Spanberger’s leadership in securing the full retirement benefits earned by Virginia fire fighters and other public servants.

Last month in Roanoke, President Kelly, IAFF representatives, and the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters (VPFF) — which represents more than 10,000 fire fighters, paramedics, and other emergency response workers across the Commonwealth — recognized Spanberger’s relentless commitment to pushing her bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line. 

Since Spanberger’s legislation was signed into law by the President earlier this year, at least $309 million in earned retirement benefits have been delivered to at least 47,000 retired fire fighters, paramedics, and other public servants across Virginia. In July, VPFF endorsed Spanberger to serve as the next Governor of Virginia. 

Click here to read President Kelly’s full op-ed in the Roanoke Times, and the full text is below.

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Roanoke Times: Abigail Spanberger shows how to get things done for our communities

Sunday, October 19, 2025

The International Association of Fire Fighters backs elected officials who make public safety a priority and deliver real results for our members and the communities we serve. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger has done both, and it’s why she’s earned our support for governor of Virginia.

Spanberger has a deep respect for the rule of law — it’s in her DNA. Like her father, she became a federal law enforcement officer and joined the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, investigating narcotics, money-laundering, and child predator cases. She went on to work counterterrorism at the CIA, preventing threats to our country and our way of life.

In Congress, Spanberger fought to ensure Virginia’s first responders have the staffing and resources needed to keep communities safe. She led bipartisan legislation to combat drug trafficking and strengthen programs that support substance-use prevention, treatment, and recovery. Every day, fire fighters and emergency medical workers respond to fentanyl overdoses. She’s focused on giving communities the tools to address this crisis.

She also understands that keeping communities strong means supporting the people who serve them. That’s why she led the way on Capitol Hill to fix a decades-old injustice that stripped millions of fire fighters, police officers, and other public employees of the Social Security benefits they had earned.

When the government created Social Security, it did so with the promise that if you paid into the system, it would be there for you at retirement. But Congress broke that promise in 1983 when it passed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two penalties that cut Social Security benefits for many public employees.

No one enters public service to get rich. In fact, many fire fighters work second jobs to support their family, paying into Social Security for decades — only to later learn that the benefits they were counting on were stolen by Uncle Sam. 

For decades, politicians promised to right this wrong; Spanberger got it done. Her partnership with Republican Rep. Garret Graves forced a vote on the U.S. House floor. When momentum stalled in the Senate, Spanberger stood at our rally in the pouring rain — shoulder to shoulder with fire fighters, cops, and others — and demanded action from then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The Social Security Fairness Act is now law, and the WEP/GPO were repealed earlier this year.

Because Spanberger never took no for an answer, 46,000 Virginians have already been paid back more than $292 million in earned benefits. For those residents — and millions of other hardworking, tax-paying Americans — Spanberger’s Social Security Fairness Act provides long-overdue fairness and a dignified retirement.

The IAFF is not alone in recognizing her leadership on behalf of Virginia’s first responders. The Virginia Police Benevolent Association (VAPBA) — the largest police union in Virginia — has also thrown its support behind her, its first endorsement of a Democratic candidate for governor since 2009. We work closely with the VAPBA on key issues that affect the health, safety, and well-being of our members, and it’s no surprise that we’re both supporting a leader who has always had our backs.

Virginians — and the entire country — are calling for commonsense, next-generation leaders who don’t get bogged down in partisanship. That’s exactly who Abigail Spanberger is. She finds common ground by keeping her focus on the people she serves. It’s the type of bipartisan leadership we need more of, and why we proudly stand with her in the race for governor.

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