Approximately 3 million U.S. citizens will receive full Social Security benefits. This is confirmed by the Social Security Fairness Act, legislation passed during the final hours of the current Congress, which now heads to President Biden, so he is expected to sign it into law soon. This is great news for many workers who were being harmed by current federal policies.
Senators voted 76 to 20 in favor of the Social Security Fairness Act. This legislation would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million Americans, including police officers, postal workers, firefighters, teachers, among many others who receive a public pension, from receiving their full Social Security benefits.
The legislation has been decades in the making, but has only now achieved a majority in Congress. Recall that the Senate held its first policy hearings in 2003. However, it has only now received congressional approval and passed into law by President Joe Biden.
A controversial legislative process: yes and no votes
“The Senate is finally righting a 50-year wrong,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer, D-New York. The Senate majority voted unanimously in favor of the measure, while Senate Republicans were split, with 20 votes in favor and 20 against. Four senators did not vote, including Adam Schiff, Democrat of California; Joe Manchin, Independent of West Virginia; and two Republicans: Marco Rubio of Florida and Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio.
The passage of the Social Security Fairness Act bill was decided at the last minute. After gaining bipartisan approval in the U.S. House of Representatives in November, the Senate’s nod came just ahead of a resolution to avert a government shutdown. The votes were the last cast by senators in the 118th Congress before the next Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, celebrated the bill’s victory, calling Social Security “the cornerstone” of the middle class. “You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earn it and it should be there when you retire. All these workers are asking for is what they earned,” asserted the politician who lost his seat in the November elections.
Why Republicans opposed the bill
The Republicans who spoke out against the Social Security Fairness Act bill did so mainly because of its cost. They pointed out that the measure would accelerate the projected insolvency of the trust fund by about six months, something that is now estimated to occur only in about a decade.
Supporters of the bill in the Senate, including Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, argued that while it is necessary to address the Social Security funding shortfall, that should not be done at the expense of retirees with public pensions. For him, a balance needs to be struck.
What does the Social Security Fairness Act provide for?
Once enacted, the effective date of the Social Security Fairness Act includes the Social Security payments corresponding to the months after December 2023, as indicated in the official draft. Still, calculating what citizens are due, let alone retroactive payments, may not be a simple or quick process.
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