U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, reported H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act out of committee and spoke strongly in favor of protecting Social Security during a Ways and Means markup hearing.

“Millions of retired first responders, teachers, and other public servants have suffered under the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset,” said Rep. Pascrell, a senior member of the Subcommittee on Social Security. “A day doesn’t go by that I don’t hear from them on this. Repealing these provisions would finally allow public service employees to get a fair shake.”

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) are two provisions of the Social Security Act that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service. In New Jersey, more than 23,000 retired and disabled workers and their families are affected by the WEP. And across America, more than 700,000 Social Security beneficiaries are affected by GPO.

Rep. Pascrell is a cosponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), legislation the committee is considering today to strengthen Social Security by eliminating the WEP and GPO provisions. The committee reported the bill out of committee at today’s meeting. Pascrell is also a strong support of the Social Security 2100 Act, more comprehensive legislation that repeals WEP and GPO, while also expanding benefits for seniors, extending the life of the program, and is paid for.