President Joe Biden departs the East Room of the White House after signing the Social Security Fairness Act, in Washington.   --Photo AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Higher Social Security payments coming for millions of people from bill that Biden signed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Joe Biden on Sunday signed into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs.
Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis.
The bill rescinds two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government.
“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their life to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity — that’s the entire purpose of the Social Security system,” Biden said during a signing ceremony in the White House East Room.
“This is a big deal,” he said.
Biden was joined by labour leaders, retirement advocates, and Democratic and Republican lawmakers including the legislation’s primary sponsors, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and exiting Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who received a standing ovation from ceremony attendees.
The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset. About 2.1 million people, or about 3 percent of all beneficiaries, were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision would boost monthly payments to the affected beneficiaries by an average of US$360 by December 2025. Ending the Government Pension Offset would increase monthly benefits in December 2025 by an average of US$700 for 380,000 recipients getting benefits based on living spouses, according to the CBO. The increase would be an average of US$1,190 for 390,000 or surviving spouses getting a widow or widower benefit.
Those amounts would increase over time with Social Security’s regular cost-of-living adjustments.
The change is to payments from January 2024 and beyond, meaning the Social Security Administration would owe back-dated payments. The measure as passed by Congress says the Social Security commissioner “shall adjust primary insurance amounts to the extent necessary to take into account” changes in the law. It’s not immediately clear how this will happen or whether people affected will have to take any action.

(Latest Update January 7, 2025)