Millions of retirees and workers just got a raise in retirement income

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.)

Social Security is not an entitlement program or a handout, it’s an earned benefit paid into by workers and their employers. When we retire, we expect to receive the full share of Social Security that we are entitled to based on our payments and our work history. But for decades, millions of public employees with pensions — including more than 100,000 Ohioans — have had their earned Social Security benefits stripped from them. 

That was because of two policies – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) – that reduced Social Security benefits and survivor benefits for workers who received public employee pensions but had also, at other jobs, paid into social security for a qualifying length of time. 

In each and every congressional session stretching back to 2001, legislators introduced the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal WEP and GPO and put more money in the hands of retirees. After dying in committee for 11 straight sessions, the Social Security Fairness Act passed the House in November with a 327 – 75 vote and passed the Senate in December with a 76 – 20 vote. President Biden signed it into law earlier this month. 

These policies punished public employees and especially served as a disincentive for mid-career professionals considering moving from the private sector to public service work. This is especially a problem in education, where some school districts are struggling to find enough teachers, counselors, intervention specialists, and other staff. Rather than reducing standards for educators to fill the gaps, we can focus on getting rid of the obstacles that keep qualified people from pursuing jobs in our schools. Eliminating the WEP and GPO retirement penalty is a great first step. 

After stalling out for two decades, the Social Security Protection Act got large bipartisan majorities despite intense polarization because of the tenacity of public employees and retirees who refused to accept a situation where money they earned  was being stripped from them because they made the choice to spend part of their career working for the public good. We also had the good fortune to have one of the most effective advocates for working people in our corner. 

Sherrod Brown, the primary Senate sponsor of the Social Security Protection Act since 2015, fought for working people because he saw us as full people, who deserve respect, dignity, and security. Over the years, Sherrod heard from many public workers and retirees in my union and in others about the harm that WEP and GPO were causing, and he committed to continue fighting and leading on this bill until it became law. He went above and beyond, holding field hearings across Ohio and meeting with retirees, union members, and other public employees to hear our stories so he could share them with his colleagues and build the bipartisan coalition that was needed. 

Here are some of the stories he heard: 

Diane Gibson taught family and consumer science (home economics) and health for 30 years in Cincinnati Public Schools and also taught for ten years in South Carolina. In Ohio, she was in a public pension system but in South Carolina she paid into Social Security. When she retired she was denied her own Social Security benefits and the survivor benefits from her late husband. When she receives her full benefits, she’ll use the extra money to pay off credit cards and help her daughter through nursing school.  

Julie Fredericksen is retiring this year after more than 20 years in Toledo Public Schools. She started teaching at 40 years old after 23 years of working other jobs, including healthcare and customer service, and paying into Social Security. Due to the WEP and GPO, Julie expected to only receive 55% of the retirement benefits she earned in the private sector. Now, she’ll receive all of the benefits she earned and she’ll use the extra money to pay for her supplemental health insurance and to invest for longer term financial security during retirement.  

Dan MacDonald taught for 38 years in Cleveland Heights — University Heights City Schools and for most of his career, teachers only received paychecks ten months of the year, with no pay in July and August. He, and many of his colleagues, worked summer jobs each year to make ends meet. He painted houses, worked in retail, and worked for Kilroy Structural Steel, among other odd jobs. Due to WEP, Dan has only been receiving one third of the Social Security benefits that he earned. 

I could go on. There are thousands of stories like this in Ohio alone, and Sherrod spent years listening to them. He was dedicated to finding a solution because he knew that retirement security is essential to uplifting the dignity of work. There is no dignity in robbing retirees of benefits they paid into and earned. This fight wasn’t the first time he stood up to protect benefits for Ohio retirees; his leadership on the Butch Lewis Act (which was included in 2021’s American Rescue Plan) saved the pensions of more than a million American workers, including 62,000 Ohioans. And though this was one of his last actions as a Senator, we hope and expect that it isn’t the last time Ohio workers will have Sherrod Brown in our corner. 

Melissa Cropper is the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.