Millions of Social Security recipients, including many in Acadiana, may soon see a boost in their payments under new legislation set for a final Senate vote.
The Social Security Fairness Act seeks to eliminate long-standing provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who are also eligible for pensions. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy calls these provisions “unfair” and says the bill will help ensure people receive the benefits they’ve earned.
“For years, about 100,000 people in Louisiana have been affected by these provisions,” Cassidy said. “Who are they? Our sheriff’s deputies, our police officers, our high school teachers, all teachers in the public school system. I worked in the Charity Hospital system for 20 years, I paid into Social Security, but a lot of the janitors, the lab techs, the nurses did not.”
The provisions Cassidy refers to are the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), both of which have been in place for decades.