Public awareness, combined with the tenacious advocacy of individual retirees and organizations from across the country has led to this moment. The stars finally aligned in September, following the successful passage of a discharge petition forcing HR82 to be released from the Ways and Means Committee and be placed on the House calendar for a floor vote.
With 330 cosponsors supporting HR82, more than a super majority of bipartisan support existed within the House. This emboldened the lead sponsors of HR82, Congressman Garrett Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) to file the discharge petition to force a vote. We should note that neither Graves nor Spanberger sought reelection to the House. Graves lost his seat to redistricting and Spanberger is a candidate for governor of Virginia. To their credit, both prioritized the passage of HR82.
Despite wide support for full repeal of WEP/GPO, the policy is not universally supported by all members of Congress. On Election Day, during an informal session of the House that Tuesday evening, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus attempted to derail HR82 by using a procedural maneuver to table the bill and prevent a vote from taking place.
On Thursday of that week, our Association and the TRTA visited Capitol Hill to meet with senior House leadership staff and advocate for the passage of HR82 when Congress reconvened the following week.
With intense pressure brought on by public retirees and the 330 cosponsors of HR82, House leaders used their own procedural maneuver to bring HR82 to the floor on November 12 through what is known as the “Suspension Calendar”.
However, unlike a normal majority vote, the Suspension Calendar requires a 2/3rds super majority vote to pass a bill. After nearly an hour of debate, and opposition from a handful of Republicans and Democrats, HR82 was overwhelming passed by the House on the evening of November 12th – easily clearing the 2/3rds threshold.
Also placed on the Suspension Calendar as an alternative approach to HR82 was HR5342, legislation aimed at reforming the WEP rather than fully repealing the law. Sponsored by House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX), HR5342 was debated just prior to HR82 coming to the floor.
However, when the rollcall vote was taken later that evening HR82 was voted on first and overwhelming passed. HR5342 failed to achieve supermajority support and was voted down by the House.
With the Historic Vote, Fight Remains an Uphill Battle
This historic vote was the first time since the WEP/GPO laws were created in 1983 that a related bill had ever advanced beyond a Congressional Committee, never mind being voted upon by the House. And while much work remains to be done before victory can be declared, it is clear the concerns of retirees are being taken seriously on Capitol Hill.
“Our members, together with retirees impacted by WEP/GPO from across the country, forced the House to act. It may have taken 41-years to get to this point, but retirees have refused to be ignored. Since 1983 we have argued that these laws are very unfair. A super majority of the House is now on record acknowledging that both the WEP and GPO must end,” said Mass Retirees CEO Shawn Duhamel, who has been the Mass Retirees federal point person for nearly 30 years.
“Thankfully, Tim Lee from the TRTA and I were able to visit Capitol Hill just before the House vote and help advocate for the bill to move forward. And on the day of the vote, MassCop Vice President and Mass Retirees member John Nelson joined law enforcement groups and members of the National WEP/GPO Repeal Coalition in helping to push HR82 across the finish line in the House. Collectively, we’re now doing everything possible to advocate for the Senate to pass the bill and get it to the president, who is on record supporting full repeal. Passing full repeal in December would make for a wonderful end to 2024, but this fight remains an uphill battle.”