NSEA Supports H.R.82 The Social Security Fairness Act

NSEA supports H.R. 82 to eliminate the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which discourage Nevadans from becoming educators, especially those mid-career considering a new job in education. This issue is especially acute in Nevada, as our state struggles to fill thousands of vacant teacher and other critical positions. Nevada already has the distinction of having the largest class sizes in the country. Now with the vacancy crisis, tens of thousands of Nevada kids are stuck in classrooms with long-term substitutes or doubled or even tripled up. Countless bus routes have been canceled, as students wait hours for transportation. Public education in Nevada is struggling, and WEP-GPO only makes matters worse.

More than 2.5 million American workers have their Social Security benefits reduced due to WEP-GPO. This includes over 35,000 Nevadans, many of whom are retired educators. WEP reduces Social Security benefits of people who work both in jobs covered and not covered by Social Security over the course of their careers—for example, educators compelled to take part-time or summer jobs to make ends meet. In an internal survey of Nevada educators conducted earlier this year, we found 30% of our members work a second job during the school year and another 34% work a summer job. With educator pay lagging behind the market, a second job is a necessity for thousands of Nevada educators. Penalties imposed on these struggling workers by WEP-GPO is just plain wrong.

GPO reduces the Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of the pension amount. This means that more than 70 percent of those affected by GPO lose their entire spousal or survivor benefit. With the rising cost of living in Nevada, in particular housing, healthcare, and food costs that hit those on fixed incomes the hardest, many surviving spouses had planned on this income to simply live, only to have it taken away by GPO. Again, this is unfair.

Please pass H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, to eliminate WEP-GPO. Thank you.

How To Submit Written Comments

You can use our letter above, or use the following sample language: 

Dear Congressmember, 

As an educator, I’m asking you to pass  HR 82 and urge House leadership to bring this critical legislation to a vote. GPO/WEP negatively impacts public servants across the country. This issue not only takes money away from committed public servants who have paid into the system, but also deters people from becoming public servants like teachers and police officers. We need to push for a repeal on all fronts to ensure shortages don’t get worse.

Thank you,

• Send email to: [email protected]
• Subject Line: Social Security Subcommittee Hearing on the Windfall Eliminations Provision and Government Pension Offset
• Attach your comment in a Word document (limit 1) no more than 10 pages long
• The email should include who is sending it: your name, address and phone
• No personal identifiable information should be in the attached submission

Send your letters of support to [email protected].

How To Watch the Hearing
Members of the public may view the hearing via live webcast available at https://waysandmeans.house.gov. The webcast will not be available until the hearing starts.