OEA thanks Reps. Greg Landsman (OH-1), Joyce Beatty (OH-3), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Shontell Brown (OH-11), Troy Balderson (OH-12), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Dave Joyce (OH-14), and Mike Carey (OH-15) for signing the discharge petition and for being among the eleven members of Ohio’s delegation in the US House who are co-sponsors of the bill.
“For too long, Ohio’s public servants have been punished for their service by the Federal Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provisions (GPO/WEP), which prevent educators and others from receiving the full Social Security income they’ve earned. GPO/WEP is a barrier for potentially great educators who may choose not to enter this profession because they would lose much of the Social Security benefits they’ve earned in previous private sector work,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “These punitive, unfair federal laws have got to go, and the US House must take up the legislation that would achieve these necessary changes as soon as possible.”
Ohio is one of about a dozen states where GPO/WEP affects public servants like educators. Nearly 250,000 Ohioans will be able to receive the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned over a lifetime of work when the Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal the outdated GPO and WEP provisions of the Social Security Act, becomes law.
“If you pay into Social Security, you should receive full benefits. Anything less is wrong. Ohio’s public school educators are simply asking for what they’ve earned so they can retire with dignity after dedicating their lives and careers to serving Ohio’s students,” DiMauro said.
The Social Security Fairness Act currently has 326 cosponsors in the US House and 62 in the US Senate, where Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has championed it. OEA is calling on House and Senate members to move the bill forward quickly for a vote.
