New Grassroots Coalition Forms to Demand Congress Fix Social Security for Public Employees

Retired teachers, state and municipal employees, fire fighters and police officers in Maine have formed a new grassroots coalition to demand Congress repeal two Social Security penalties, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), for retired workers with state or local pensions.

WEP reduces Social Security benefits for individuals with a state pension even if they contributed to Social Security in a separate private sector career. This has caused struggles for retired public employees like former Department of Transportation worker Tony Gonzales. Gonzales receives both a state MainePERS pension after working 25 years for the state, but also paid into Social Security while working for 20 years in the private sector before he took the job at Maine DOT. However, his Social Security benefits get reduced by 60 percent because he receives a state pension.

“When I retired from the state at age 62, my Social Security benefit was supposed to be $1000 a month, but my WEP penalty was 60 percent, so I only receive $400,” Gonzales explained. “If I was in the private sector and had a pension, I could have both Social Security without a penalty and my state retirement. I also don’t get the cost of living adjustments based on the $1000 I’m supposed to get from Social Security. I get that based on the $400 after the 60 percent penalty.”

Currently, Gonzales receives $2200 a month from his retirement to cover basic necessities as the cost of fuel, utilities and other basic necessities are going up. And because Governor LePage and a GOP-controlled Legislature eliminated the retiree health care plan and rolled it into Medicare in 2011, he has to also pay an additional $150 a month out of $400 in Social Security to cover Medicare premiums. His Social Security COLAs are enough to pay for a couple cups of coffee, he says.

Dan Asdourian, a retired Portland firefighter (IAFF 740), and his wife Penny Whitney Asdourian, a retired judicial branch employee (MSEA-SEIU 1989), are also paying a price for their public service in Maine. Not only do they receive just $117 a month in Social Security benefits because of the WEP, but they will also get nailed by the Government Pension Offset, which reduces the Social Security benefits for surviving spouses by 100 percent. Because Penny Asdourian spent her entire career in the public sector, she will receive no money from Social Security to cover her Medicare premium after her husband passes on.

“I hope you can understand how grossly unfair we feel the Windfall Elimination Provision is,” Dan Asdourian wrote in a letter to Maine’s Congressional delegation. “Seniors across this country are struggling. Right now, with the ever increasing cost of food, fuel and especially housing, many retirees are struggling to stay in their own homes. Most of the seniors we know have taken part-time jobs to help make ends meet.”

Maine isone 15 states where state employees are unfairly penalized by the GPO and WEP and one of 26 states where county and municipal retirees are affected by the offsets. The coalition is calling on members of Congress to support “The Social Security Fairness Act,”which would repeal both the WEP and GPO. All of Maine’s delegation — Senators King and Collins and Reps. Pingree and Golden — have co-sponsored versions of the bill and have been meeting with retired Maine union members recently to hear their stories and provide updates about the bills.

The House version of the bill currently has 270 co-sponsors and the Senate version has 40 co-sponsors. In order to bring these measures to a vote, they will need 290 and 50 co-sponsors respectively. 

"We are pleased that our Congressional delegation has already signed on as cosponsors to this important legislation," said Michael Crouse, President of the Professional Firefigthers of Maine.  "But Senator Collins told us that the bill is not going to move out of the Senate until after the election or until the Biden Administration makes it a priority which it has not yet done. Even if there was no election, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is not going to agree to it should the House pass the legislation unless the administration makes it a priority this session or in a future session should there be a need."

It is very clear that we need to build a much broader mass movement to demand the repeal of these harmful policies. Members of the Maine coalition are encouraging retirees affected by these unfair penalties to join retirees across the country in this effort by joining the “Repeal the WEP & GPO” Facebook group to share stories with other retirees. The coalition is also planning a day of action in Washington DC on Wednesday May 18th, where they rally and visit members of Congress to ask them to support the repeal of the WEP and GPO penalties.

Please join the  “Repeal the WEP & GPO” Facebook group to get more involved.