A bill to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans cleared a key procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday afternoon and is now set for a second vote on Thursday. The clock is ticking, and there are only a few days left in this legislative session.
Senators approved the motion to advance consideration of the Social Security Fairness Act by a vote of 73-27, according to an unofficial Senate tally shown on a webcast of the chamber. The tally clears the filibuster threshold of 60 votes, meaning that a simple majority is required for final passage to send the bill to President Biden’s desk.
Ohio Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was one of 24 Republican senators who joined 49 Democrats in pushing the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Vote YES on the Social Security Fairness Act to eliminate flawed policies that eat away at the benefits of people who have worked as teachers, firefighters, postal workers, public sector employees, and more.” “I’m going to throw it,” he said on social media. Media just before voting. “Retirees stripped of their hard-earned benefits will be watching closely.”
New York Democrats are pushing for the bill to be brought to a full vote. repeal two federal policies This leaves millions of Americans, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers, and other state pensioners, without receiving their full Social Security benefits.
Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his seat in the November election, said, “Social Security is the foundation of our middle class. It’s something you earn for 40 quarters, and you should have Social Security when you retire.” ” he said. It will take place on the floor ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers want is what they earn.”
Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy relayed that a retired teacher was crying in his office because he “couldn’t understand why his Social Security spousal benefit was less than if he hadn’t worked at all.”
Sen. Thom Tillis has argued that enacting what he frames as an unfunded government mandate that increases the federal deficit even though a minority of people are not receiving what they should from Social Security. “This is not the way to solve the problem,” he said, expressing his opposition to the measures. ”
“This bill would take $200 billion out of the Social Security Trust Fund over 10 years with no way to pay for it,” the North Carolina Republican added.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
Decades in the making, the Social Security Fairness Act repeals two federal policies that significantly reduce payments to nearly 3 million retirees: the Windfall Exemption Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). I will do it.
This includes people who also collect pensions from state or federal jobs that are not covered by Social Security, such as teachers, police officers, and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also repeal a second provision that would reduce Social Security benefits for surviving spouses and family members of these workers. WEP affects approximately 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and approximately 800,000 retirees in GPO.
“This work takes time, but 21 years is ridiculous,” Brown said of the process. The Senate held its first hearing on the policy in 2003.
The bill, which passed the House in November, had 62 co-sponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. But some bipartisan support for the bill has waned in recent days, with some Republicans expressing doubts because of the cost. The bill is expected to increase the federal budget deficit by $195 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
At least one Republican senator, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, who signed a similar bill last year, said he was still “considering” whether to vote for it. “We don’t know if we’re going to take on more debt because we’re not getting paid anything,” Brown said last week, according to the Associated Press. reported.
That said, Brown voted to advance the bill Wednesday.
“Ultimately, each member of Congress is going to make their own decisions about what decisions they want to make,” Republican Party Leader-elect John Thune said at a news conference Tuesday. “Obviously, I’m concerned about the long-term solvency of Social Security, and I think that’s an issue that we need to address.”
Thune, the South Dakota representative, opposed Wednesday’s follow-up motion.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate is doomed this session and it will have to be reintroduced in the next session.
