The Spanberger-Led Law Provides Long Overdue Fairness for More Than 3.2 Million Americans — Including Tens of Thousands of Virginia Police Officers, Firefighters, & Federal Employees
The President Signed Her Bipartisan Bill into Law in January 2025
RICHMOND, Va. — The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced this week that the agency has begun paying benefits secured by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act ahead of schedule, delivering hard-earned relief to more than 50,000 Virginians beginning in March of this year.
According to SSA, the agency is starting to send one-time retroactive payments dating back to January 2024 — which will hit Americans’ bank accounts beginning in March — and will begin to pay full adjusted benefits in April to more than 3.2 million Americans thanks to the Social Security Fairness Act. The Spanberger-led legislation, which Congress passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and President Biden signed into law, eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two provisions for more than 40 years unfairly reduced or eliminated earned Social Security benefits long owed to Americans who devoted much of their careers to public service — including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and federal, state, and local government employees.
“In Congress, I worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to force this commonsense, bipartisan legislation up for a vote and right this 40-plus-year wrong. Now, more than 50,000 Virginians will soon receive their earned benefits after years of being denied their full retirement security,” said Spanberger. “The Social Security Administration’s accelerated timeline to deliver these benefits is long overdue good news — but it comes as the Trump Administration is taking aim at the very workforce at Social Security that will make sure these dollars reach Virginians’ bank accounts. No Virginian should be unfairly penalized for choosing a career in public service, and I will continue to make sure that police officers, firefighters, federal employees, and grieving spouses get back what was stolen from them.”
In Congress, Spanberger worked closely with several organizations representing the interests of America’s public servants — including the National Fraternal Order of Police and National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, who applauded the expedited timeline in correcting this basic issue of fairness.
“We are thrilled to hear that the SSA has stepped on the gas pedal to begin paying those impacted by WEP and GPO. This is much faster than expected, especially based on previously available information. The retroactive payments will finally provide relief to public servants who have been denied their full benefits for years,” said William “Bill” Shackelford, National President, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. “The repeal of WEP and GPO would not have been possible without the leadership of Congresswoman Spanberger, and nationwide grassroots effort. This bill would not have passed into law without her tireless advocacy.”
“We were proud to have had Abigail Spanberger as a partner on the Social Security Fairness Act and thrilled by the latest news from the Social Security Administration that retroactive payments will start this week for individuals impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). Folks will begin to see their full benefits—the benefits they earned—in April,” said Patrick Yoes, National President, National Fraternal Order of Police. “Because of her work, nearly three million law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and other public employees who earned themselves a Social Security benefit, only to see those benefits reduced by the WEP, will finally begin to receive every penny that they earned. Because of her work, families impacted by the GPO which reduced or, in most cases, eliminated the survivor’s benefit received by surviving spouses, will finally be able to collect what they earned and do so much sooner than expected.”
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 then 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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