Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands), an active leader in reforming Social Security, today introduced the Public Servant Retirement Protection Act, H.R. 4391.

 

Brady, a member of the House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security, was joined by a bi-partisan group of Social Security leaders in the House which include: Social Security Chairman Clay Shaw (R-FL), Representative Howard Berman (D-CA), Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Representative Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Representative Michael Michaud (D-ME).

 

The bill restores the Social Security benefits of thousands of teachers, police, firefighters, and other state and local government employees now reduced by an outdated federal formula known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).   

 

The Public Servant Retirement Protection Act has received early endorsement by the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE), Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) and the National Education Association (NEA) as a strong step forward in Social Security fairness.

 

“If you have earned two pensions, you deserve to collect both pensions,” said Brady, who promised reform after intense study of the WEP. “Many dedicated public servants, including teachers who had a second career, find out at retirement that their Social Security benefits have been arbitrarily reduced – sometimes by as much as $300 a month -- just because they’ve contributed to both systems.  This is terribly unfair.”

 

The Public Servant Retirement Protection Act repeals the 1983 Windfall Elimination Provision. In its place it applies the same Social Security formula other American workers enjoy. It guarantees public servants keep the Social Security they earned while they paid into the federal program, based not on an arbitrary formula but on each workers actual wages and contributions.

 

Background: The WEP reduces the monthly Social Security benefits of workers who have earned a Social Security pension along with a pension from a Social Security substitute - like the Texas Teachers Retirement System.  It reduces the Social Security benefits up to a limit of around $300 per month. This has been cited by Texas teachers as unfair and as discouraging the recruitment into the classroom of qualified teachers from others states and other careers.  

 

In 2003, about 700,000 retired American workers – 2% of the national workforce -- earned both Social Security and a retirement from a Social Security substitute, like the Texas Teachers Retirement System.  Many of these workers are firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other public servants who through the course of their career also earn a Social Security benefit.