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Resolutions & Amendments

42nd International Convention - Las Vegas, NV (2016)

Elimination of the Unfair GPO and the WEP Provisions of the Social Security Act

Resolution No. 59
42nd International Convention
Las Vegas Convention Center
July 18 - 22, 2016
Las Vegas, NV

WHEREAS:

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) penalizes people who have dedicated their lives to public service, including many teachers, firefighters and police officers, by taking away benefits they, or their spouses, have EARNED; and

WHEREAS:

The WEP causes hard-working people to lose a significant portion of the benefits they earned themselves; and

WHEREAS:

Nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO upon the death of their spouse lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years, and were it not for their public service career they would be entitled to surviving spousal benefits; and

WHEREAS:

A national crisis has been created affecting workers and retirees that migrate from state to state seeking financial relief; and

WHEREAS:

The loss of a major portion of their earned Social Security benefit forces some people into poverty; and

WHEREAS:

According to the 2013 Congressional Research Report for Congress, 568,000 people have had their spousal benefits reduced by the GPO — 1 percent of all beneficiaries (not counting those who did not apply) and of those people penalized by GPO, 80 percent are women and of those women, 74 percent lose their entire Social Security benefit; and

WHEREAS:

The WEP provision, according to the same report, impacts about 1.4 million Social Security beneficiaries, about 1.3 million people (92 percent) affected by the WEP are retired workers and 2.5

percent of all Social Security beneficiaries (including disabled and spouse beneficiaries), and about 3.5 percent of all retired worker beneficiaries, are affected by the WEP. Of the retired workers affected by the WEP, approximately 63 percent are men; and

WHEREAS:

This becomes a community problem throughout the country as these unfairly penalized individuals have less money to spend in their local economy; and

WHEREAS:

Various forms of the Social Security Fairness Act, which would completely repeal the GPO and the WEP have been introduced, gained bipartisan support and sponsorship, but languished in the halls of Congress for many years.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That the AFSCME International join with AFSCME Retirees in urging the Congress to support legislation (to repeal the GPO & WEP provisions) H.R. 973 & S. 1651 and to move the legislation through to passage and to being signed into law and to oppose H.R. 711, in its current form, a piece of legislation that does little good and not for years from now, while hurting yet more retirees; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME increases their efforts to make sure the Congress of the United States enacts legislation to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision from the Social Security Act, and further requests the sitting President, no matter who, to sign that legislation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME stands in solidarity and makes this one of our priorities: to be committed to repeal the unjust denial of benefits that affects so many of our members in 26 states, with the largest populations in California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That all AFSCME councils work to ensure the support of their state’s U.S. Representatives and Senators to pass H.R. 973 & S. 1651 and to defeat H.R. 711, in its current form, by providing their locals with information and an action plan so that together we can successfully repeal this unjust denial of earned benefits that affect so many of our members.

Submitted by:

Jack McMath, Delegate
AFSCME Retiree Chapter 93
Northern New England

Nadine Peyrucain, California