By Michelle Smith

On February 25, the Social Security Administration (SSA) stated it was beginning to issue retroactive benefits made possible by the Social Security Fairness Act. Some Social Security recipients are also slated to see their monthly benefits increase starting in April, the department added.

The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). Both of those measures reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for workers who did not pay Social Security taxes, resulting in what is known as a non-covered pension.

Individuals who were impacted by the WEP and GPO included teachers, firefighters, and police in some states as well as federal employees in the Civil Service Retirement System and people who were covered by a foreign social security system.

President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law in January 2025 but the WEP and GPO stopped applying as of January 1, 2024. For most people, the retroactive funds to cover the increase from that date will come as a one-time bank deposit that will be sent by the end of this month, said the SSA.

Many of the impacted individuals are also due for an increase in their monthly benefits. Where that’s the case, the amount of the increase depends on factors such as the type of Social Security benefit received and the amount of the person’s pension. Most of those individuals can expect to see the change beginning with the April payment, the SSA also said.

Only people who receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security should expect to see benefit increases. Over 3.2 million people were impacted by the GPO and WEP, according to the SSA. Most state and local public employees – about 72%– work in Social Security-covered employment where they pay Social Security taxes and are not affected, the department added.

Over 50,000 Virginians are among those set to receive payments, according to former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger who led the effort for the Social Security Fairness Act alongside Garret Graves, a former Congressman from Louisiana.

Spanberger called the WEP and GPO misguided provisions that led to “theft “long overdue” as it took a decades-long fight to repeal the two provisions. The change has always had bipartisan support, but leadership from both parties reportedly resisted bringing a bill to the floor.

In November 2024, Spanberger and Graves forced a House vote with Spanberger calling upon her colleagues to “put an end to this theft.”

“The WEP and the GPO, two misguided provisions…have denied Americans the retirement security they worked for and expected to receive,” she said on the House floor.

The Social Security Fairness Act received overwhelming support in both chambers of Congress.

Initially, the funds still weren’t expected to be issued this quickly. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security.

Social Security is reportedly expediting the payments using automation. “Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” he said.

But there are many complex cases that must be done manually on a case-by-case basis, and they will take additional time, the department noted.