The Spanberger-Led Law Provides Long Overdue Fairness to More Than 3.2 Million Americans — Including Tens of Thousands of Police Officers, Firefighters, & Federal Employees Across Virginia Whose Benefits Were Wrongly Denied
RICHMOND, Va. — Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act has already delivered more than $292 million to more than 46,000 Virginians across the Commonwealth, according to new data from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The Spanberger-led legislation, which President Biden signed into law, eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). For more than 40 years, these two provisions unfairly reduced or eliminated retirement benefits paid into by Americans who devoted much of their careers to public service — including retired police officers, firefighters, teachers, and federal, state, and local government employees.
Last month, SSA announced that the agency had begun paying benefits Spanberger secured ahead of schedule.
“Now, benefits Virginians paid into and earned are finally hitting their bank accounts. In Congress, I worked alongside impacted Virginians to bring Republicans and Democrats together to put an end to this theft — and I’m proud to see my bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act now delivering a major victory for retired police officers, firefighters, and federal employees in communities across the Commonwealth,” said Spanberger. “As Governor, I will continue to make sure all Virginians can enjoy the retirement they’ve earned, and I will stand up to any attempt by the Trump Administration to threaten Virginians’ Social Security.”
According to SSA, the agency has sent retirees more than $14.9 billion dollars in one-time payments for retroactive Social Security benefits dating back to January 2024. More than 3.2 million Americans will begin to receive their full adjusted benefits next month.
Until the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law, the WEP reduced the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, educators who do not earn Social Security in public schools but who work part-time or during the summer in jobs covered by Social Security saw reduced benefits, even though they paid into the system for enough quarters to receive benefits.
Likewise, the GPO affected the spousal benefits of people who work as federal, state, or local government employees — including police officers, firefighters, and educators — if the job was not covered by Social Security. The GPO reduced by two-thirds the benefit received by surviving spouses who also collected a government pension — often offsetting benefits entirely.
BACKGROUND
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Spanberger worked tirelessly to deliver her legislation to the president’s desk.
Spanberger first introduced the Social Security Fairness Act in January 2021. The bipartisan legislation earned the support of more than 300 Members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — before the end of the 117th Congress. At the start of the 118th Congress in January 2023, Spanberger reintroduced the legislation alongside U.S. Representative Garret Graves (R-LA-06).
For nearly four years, Spanberger rallied her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and congressional leadership to support her effort to solve this basic issue of fairness. The Congresswoman heard from thousands of Virginians who have been denied their hard-earned benefits. Using their stories, she advocated on behalf of this commonsense fix and the thousands of impacted Virginians.
Spanberger never stopped working to get this legislation across the finish line. In September 2024, Spanberger and Graves filed a discharge petition for their Social Security Fairness Act — which had more than 325 bipartisan cosponsors. Less than two weeks later, the petition secured the required 218 signatures needed to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. House then voted to pass the Social Security Fairness Act.
Following U.S. House passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, Spanberger urged U.S. Senate leadership to swiftly vote to pass the legislation before the end of the 118th Congress. Spanberger stood in the pouring rain alongside firefighters, police officers, and federal employees during a rally at the U.S. Capitol to urge U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring the legislation up for a vote before the end of the 118th Congress.
10 days later, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate voted to pass the legislation in December 2024. President Biden signed the Spanberger-led Social Security Fairness Act into law on January 5, 2025.
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