http://www.ssfairness.com/gpo-wep-faq/
The Government Pension Offset is a Social Security provision that penalizes individuals who apply for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits, if they themselves worked for a state or local government in non-SS-covered employment and are entitled to a government pension from that employment. Once they receive that benefit, their earned Social Security spousal or survivor benefits will be reduced by two-thirds of their non-SS-covered pension.
The WEP penalizes those who those who have had two jobs: One job which entitles them to a Social Security retirement or disability benefit from work which paid the required SS taxes and a second job which did not pay Social Security taxes, but instead entitled them to a pension from a separate pension system. The Windfall Elimination Provision affects individuals who apply for their own (not spousal) Social Security benefits. If you do not have 30 years of "substantial income" in Social Security covered work, a complex formula will significantly reduce your benefit. The reduction may be no more than one-half of the government pension to which the person is entitled in the initial month of entitlement to the pension.
Teachers in 15 states and police, firefighters, postal workers, air traffic controllers, federal government employees (hired before 1983 -CSRS), & some state, county, local & special district workers are penalized by GPO/WEP. Even a foreign pension can reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits. They are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia*, Illinois, Kentucky*, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island*, and Texas. (Starred states mean only some school districts affected)
There are 26 states where this occurs, with the largest populations in California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas.
GPO: According to the Congressional Research Report for Congress 2013, 568,000 had their spousal benefits reduced by the GPO — 1% of all beneficiaries (not counting those who did not apply) Of those people penalized by GPO 80% are women and of those women, 74% lose their entire Social Security benefit.
WEP: According to the Congressional Research Service Report of 2013, about 1.4 million Social Security beneficiaries were penalized by the WEP. About 1.3 million people (92% ) affected by the WEP were retired workers. About 2.5% of all Social Security beneficiaries (including disabled and spouse beneficiaries), and about 3.5% of all retired worker beneficiaries, were affected by the WEP. Of retired workers affected by the WEP, approximately 63% were men.
When it enacted the GPO, Congress forgot that the original purpose of the dependent/survivor benefit was to provide additional income to help a financially dependent husband or wife once the breadwinner retires, is disabled or dies. By reducing the dependent/survivor benefit, the GPO harms the financially dependent spouse. Of those penalized by GPO, 80% are women, many of whom have spent much of their lives raising their families and have worked outside the home for only a short period of time. The GPO has a harsh effect and undermines the original purpose of the Social Security dependent/survivor benefit.
The WEP penalizes those who have had two jobs: One job which entitles them to a Social Security retirement or disability benefit from work which paid the required SS taxes and a second job which did not pay Social Security taxes, but instead entitled them to a pension from a separate pension system. These pensions were earned separately and differently from Social Security, yet they are used to reduce the amount of Social
Security benefits that a worker receives during retirement. When participation is required by both Social Security and also State and local pensions, the public pension is earned and collected separately.
All who pay full Social Security taxes should receive full benefits.
The offsets penalize those who have worked in federal jobs (hired before 1983 -CSRS) and a variety of other public employment in one of the impacted states. Teachers are penalized in 15 states and many other public employees in 26 states. Today's mobile population assures that there are impacted individuals everywhere. The offsets limit choices for educators and other public employees who might be unable or unwilling to relocate to an impacted state. Most importantly, the offsets represent unfair public policy.
Posted by: sarah_oz@yahoo.com
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