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Social Security Penalties A change in leadership for the new Congress offers a real chance for repeal of the Social Security penalties that afflict retired public employees in Maine and 14 other states. Previous attempts to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Offset (WEP) had been blocked by Republican leadership, principally by Rep. Clay Shaw of Florida who was defeated in his reelection bid. On January 4 th Senator Susan Collins and three other lead sponsors reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal the WEP and GPO in both the House and Senate.On January 12 th NEA conducted a series of Nationwide Calls to Action to call attention to the repeal campaign and to urge members of Congress to cosponsor the bills. All members of Maine’s delegation have supported repeal in the past.NEA as a member of the Coalition to Assure Retirement Security (CARE) is working hard for repeal. CARE is putting together a website on the offsets, compiling a database of stories from impacted individuals, and planning a national lobby day in the spring. The message from NEA and Care is simple: We have had enough hearings, now we need actual movement of the bill. The House Ways and Means Committee must "mark up" the Social Security Fairness Act and move it to the floor of the House for consideration. For more information on GPO and WEP and ways you can support repeal go to www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.
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