United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to express our strong opposition to Senate amendment #3336 filed by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), which would replace the text of H.R. 82, the “Social Security Fairness Act”, with the “Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2024”. The Cruz amendment will cut benefits for 14 million hard-working future retirees while not fully addressing the inequities in the current Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening programs that are vitally important to older Americans.
The Cruz amendment is severely deficient in two major ways. First, it leaves intact the current law Social Security Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, thus leaving hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, about one-half of whom are widows and widowers, losing up to the entirety of their Social Security benefit. And second, the Cruz amendment would expand rather than reduce the reach of the current law Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), cutting the benefits of millions of Americans who are not currently affected by the (WEP).
It is imperative that members of Congress not be misled by the “hold harmless” provision that allows American workers to receive benefits under either the current formula or the new one – whichever is higher – for the next four decades. While this is true, other provisions in the bill would result in benefit cuts for millions of hard-working Americans who were never subject to the WEP in the first place. The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Chief Actuary has projected that the “Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act” would cut benefits for 14 million future retirees, while raising benefits for only one million.
The proposed Cruz amendment, along with Senate amendment #3335 filed by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate amendment #3331 filed by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), and an amendment reportedly promoted to raise Social Security’s retirement age, would derail the long-overdue relief provided by H.R. 82 to millions of hard-working public servants. They also appear to have a theme in common: that improvements in some Social Security benefits must be offset but cuts to other beneficiaries – a proposition that is clearly not supported by a majority of the American public. Poll after poll has shown broad, bipartisan support for increasing revenue to stabilize Social Security’s finances rather than cutting benefits.
We strongly urge all members of the Senate to support passage of H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, without amendments that will cut benefits and/or dilute the bill. Enactment of H.R. 82 will restore the earned Social Security benefits to millions of public servants – including the teachers, police and firefighters who put their lives on the line for our families every day.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO