A bill signed by President Joe Biden on Sunday will soon provide increased Social Security benefits to millions.
The Social Security Fairness Act will strengthen Social Security checks for approximately three million current and former government workers.
Before the bill, firefighters, police officers, nurses and other public sector workers had their benefits reduced if they also received a pension that was not covered by Social Security.
“Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity, which is the entire purpose of the Social Security system,” Biden said at the bill signing ceremony in White House.
The bill repealed two previous provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset – that limited benefits to recipients if they received retirement benefits from other sources.
Eliminating the windfall elimination provision will increase monthly payments to affected beneficiaries by an average of $360 by December 2025, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.
Ending government pension compensation will increase monthly benefits by an average of $700 by December for the 380,000 recipients who receive benefits based on living spouses, according to the CBO.
The increase would average $1,190 for 390,000 surviving spouses receiving widow’s benefits.
President Joe Biden signed The Social Security Fairness Act into law on Sunday
The change is due to payments made starting in January 2024, meaning the government will issue checks to affected recipients retroactively.
Like other Social Security benefits, they will increase over time as the annual cost of living (COLA) increases.
Supporters of the law, including Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said it corrects a historical wrong.
However, others say it will further increase pressure on the social security system, which is already under severe pressure.
The annual Social Security bill, which includes pension, Medicare and disability benefits for 72.5 million recipients, costs the government $1.5 trillion a year.
The country is also under pressure to implement reforms as the number of recipients and annual costs rise faster than the revenues that sustain this support.
A recent report even states that without change, Social Security will run out of money by 2035.
Kelly, on the other hand, said the policy was “a 40-year mistake,” and his members were “excited to see the change.”
Nurses are among those who will see increased Social Security benefits as a result of the change
Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said members were excited about the change
“Now firefighters who are paid very little can afford to actually retire,” Kelly said.
He added that the previous policy was “much more egregious to the surviving spouses of firefighters who paid their own quota into Social Security but were victimized by the government pension system.”
“More than two million public sector workers will finally be able to access the Social Security benefits they have paid into their entire careers,” Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said in a statement.
‘Many will finally be able to enjoy their retirement after a lifetime of service.’