WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Rick Scott joined bipartisan legislation, led by Senators Susan Collins and Sherrod Brown, that would ensure public sector workers and their families can receive full Social Security benefits after two previous statutes reduced them. The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) from the Social Security Act, ensuring public sector workers and their families receive their full Social Security benefits. 

Senator Rick Scott said, “Folks preparing for retirement shouldn’t be caught in a game of ‘gotcha’ with the federal government. If you pay into Social Security, you ought to receive full Social Security benefits in retirement. I am proud to join my colleagues in this bipartisan legislation that will protect public sector employees, like teachers, firefighters and law enforcement, to ensure they aren’t punished for their service and rightly receive the full benefits they deserve for serving their communities so well. Our public sector employees do so much to ensure that Florida is the best state to live, work and raise a family, and they are entitled to the benefits they have paid into and earned.”  

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), enacted in 1983, reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who earned both Social Security and a pension from federal, state, or local government employment not covered by Social Security. The Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, reduces Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government job not covered by Social Security. Together, these provisions reduce Social Security benefits for nearly three million Americans – including many teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

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