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Washington, D.C. — It is well past time for repeal or significant modification of laws that unfairly and severely penalize federal workers when they retire, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees will tell a Senate subcommittee tomorrow.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) will make that argument concerning the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) in testimony submitted to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy. The subcommittee is conducting a hearing on the issue tomorrow.

NTEU has long argued for repeal or meaningful changes in both the GPO and WEP. The GPO penalizes federal workers who are also eligible for Social Security benefits based on a spouse’s work record. These unfair provisions can reduce the spousal Social Security benefit by up to two-thirds of the amount of the government pension.

Recent figures from the Congressional Research Service indicate that there are over 400,000 Social Security beneficiaries affected by the GPO. About 75 percent were women. Many women suffer the effects of this provision because of career interruptions that arose from raising their children or due to the fact that many worked in lower-paid positions in the federal government. Approximately 85 percent of those affected lost their entire spousal Social Security benefits.

The WEP has a similarly harsh effect on Social Security benefits—except that it impacts a recipient’s own earned Social Security benefit, reducing it by as much as 50 percent simply because they receive a federal pension, such as that from the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). This impacts more than 970,000 federal retirees.

“We are very happy that there is now renewed interest in changing these provisions,” President Kelley said.

In the Senate, S. 206, a bill that would amend the Social Security Act to repeal these provisions, was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

In addition, S. 1254, introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), modifies the GPO provision. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) introduced S. 1647 that would modify the WEP. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), has introduced HR 726 in the House to modify the WEP, as well.

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.