Westmont, IL – Last night, the U.S. Congress made history by passing the Social Security Fairness Act and with it, repealing two provisions that have been harming public employees for the past 40 years. The repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) means that Social Security benefits will no longer be unfairly reduced for the millions of people nationwide who work in public service.
IFT President Dan Montgomery released the following statement upon hearing the good news:
“Finally, a wrong has been righted. Repealing the WEP and GPO as part of the Social Security Fairness Act is a crucial victory for public workers in this country, including the nearly 150,000 who live and work in Illinois. Those who serve our schools and communities will no longer suffer unfairly diminished retirement benefits because of this act. We celebrate with the legislators who worked together to get this done this week, and we thank all our members who called their lawmakers and made this issue a priority. Our win in Congress is another reminder that, together, we have the power to make a difference for working people.”
The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) represents 103,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in PreK-12 school districts throughout Illinois, faculty and staff at Illinois’ community colleges and universities, public employees under every statewide elected constitutional officer, and retirees.