Time to Act is Now!

December 1, 2022: Let me get right to the point. If you are subjected to the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), now is the time for you to join me in demanding Congress pass a reform law in 2022 that will bring needed relief from the WEP.

Starting Monday, we will launch an all-out campaign for the inclusion of WEP reform legislation within must-pass end-of-year legislation now being ironed out by the Congressional leadership. If you are impacted by the WEP law, I urge you to help us in this fight by calling or emailing your federal elected officials.

As retired public employees, my wife Karen and I are both victims of the WEP and/or Government Pension Offset (GPO) laws. We are just two of the more than 85,000 Massachusetts residents currently harmed by the WEP. Nationwide, more than 2 million retired public employees see their monthly Social Security check unfairly reduced by the WEP.

While the votes do not exist in the US Senate to pass a law fully repealing the WEP and GPO laws, I do believe that bipartisan support exists in both the House and US Senate to pass legislation reforming the WEP. This potential reform stems from the two similar bills filed by Congressmen Richie Neal and Kevin Brady in this Congressional session – with HR2337 (Neal’s proposal) serving as the main vehicle.

Let me be clear, without the support of Richie Neal there would be no chance for any relief from the WEP. Likewise, Kevin Brady has helped convince the Republican Congressional leadership of the fact that WEP is unfair and must be reformed. Together, they are largely the reason why any relief from WEP is even a possibility.

However, best efforts without a successful resolution helps no one. Failure to pass a compromise WEP reform bill in 2022 will mean continued economic pain for 2 million public retirees – a number that grows each day!

These next 3-4 weeks are critical. Congress can pass WEP reform as a part of end-of-year legislation IF Neal and Brady can reach agreement on the fine details of how to pay for the future costs of WEP reform and to whom the new Social Security formula should apply decades down the road.

With Brady retiring at the end of the year and Neal losing his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship due to the incoming Republican majority in the House, we must make every effort to get a deal done now in the limited time we have left.

For this reason, retirees must act now. Beginning Monday, December 5th, call or email your local member of Congress and your two US Senators. Keep the message simple:

  1. I’m a retired Massachusetts public employee and a voter.
  2. I live and vote in ______.
  3. My Social Security has been unfairly reduced by the WEP law.
  4.  Ask for the following:
  5. Please support a WEP reform deal in 2022.
  6. Please call on Chairman Neal and Ranking Member Brady to come to agreement on a fair deal to reform WEP.
  7. Please commit to prioritizing the inclusion of WEP reform within end-of-year legislation.

If you live in Massachusetts, call or email your federal officials:

Not sure who your member of Congress is or do you live outside of the state? Locate your member of Congress here.

Together with allies such as the Texas Retired Teachers Association, we have continued to do everything possible to pass WEP reform into law this year. With the remaining time left in 2022, we will do all we can do to encourage a deal be made to bring needed and long overdue relief to our members.

Again, this coming Monday, December 5th, we will all be reaching out to our respective federal officials with a call to action on the WEP. Please join with us!

Sincerely,

Frank

Frank Valeri
President
Mass Retirees Association

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