Respect Public Service:
Repeal Social Security Offsets

Update on NEA's Campaign to Eliminate GPO/WEP

August 21, 2008

The Latest News:

National Democratic Platform Calls for Repeal of Social Security Offsets!

The 2008 Democratic National Platform includes language calling for the elimination of Social Security offsets. NEA President Reg Weaver and Pennsylvania State Education Association President Jim Testerman served on the platform committee and, with the help of NEA staff, were able to push the committee to include in the platform language reading,

"We will end the penalty within the current Social Security system for public service that exists in several states."

Inclusion of this language in the platform is a major victory for NEA and all those pushing to repeal these unfair offsets. Ultimate victory in reaching our goal will depend on the election of a President and Congress committed to supporting public education and protecting retirement security for public employees.

NEA also submitted comments to the Republican drafting committee that included a call for GPO/WEP repeal.

Current Legislative Status

The Social Security Fairness Act now boasts a record 352 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and 37 cosponsors in the Senate. In November, 2007, the Senate Finance Committee, Subcommittee on Social Security, held a hearing on the offsets, followed in February 2008 by a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee. These hearings, and the high number of cosponsors, reflect the hard work of activists across the country in raising the profile of this issue and moving it farther in this current Congress than ever before.

The 110th Congress will adjourn this fall. While our congressional sponsors have been working very closely with the committees overseeing the issue looking for appropriate vehicles to move the Social Security Fairness Act forward, it is unlikely any additional action will occur on the offsets prior to adjournment. The Social Security Fairness Act will need to be reintroduced in the 111th Congress, which begins in January 2009. Repeal of the offsets will remain a top NEA priority for the next Congress and we will be pushing the new President and Congress to take immediate action.

Statements on Social Security Offsets Available on House Committee Website

Statements submitted for the record in conjunction with the January 2008 House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Social Security offsets - including many statements submitted by NEA activists - are now available on the Committee's website.

Due to a technical glitch, some submitted statements were not received by the Committee. If you submitted a statement in January, check the website to make sure your statement is there. If you do not see your statement, you can contact the committee at 202-225-3625 to inquire about resubmitting it. Note, this is only for statements originally submitted within the two week period following the January hearing that were lost due to the Committee's technical problems.

Stay Up-To-Date! The latest GPO/WEP news is posted on NEA's Legislative Action Center at http://www.nea.org/lac/socsec/index.html.

Past issues of this update:

• October 31, 2007 
• August 15, 2007 
• June 30, 2007
• March 2, 2007
• February 16, 2007
• February 7, 2007
• January 26, 2007
• January 16, 2007
• January 9, 2007
• January 5, 2007