A bipartisan bill championed by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, to increase retirement benefits for teachers and first responders is now law.
The Social Security Fairness Act will increase Social Security benefits for public employees like teachers, firefighters and law enforcement officers.
The bill was signed into law on Sunday.
The law repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which reduce or eliminate regular Social Security benefits for workers and their eligible family members if the worker receives or is entitled to a pension based on earnings from employment not covered by Social Security, including for many public employees like teachers, firefighters and law enforcement officers.
“Educators, firefighters and law enforcement officers already make huge sacrifices for our state and aren’t in it for the money — it makes no sense to unfairly reduce their Social Security benefits,” Ossoff said. “That’s why I worked to successfully pass into law the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act to repeal these unfair policies that risk hurting teachers, firefighters and law enforcement officers and ensure these public servants receive the Social Security benefits they’ve earned through their work.”
Submitted by the office of Sen. Ossoff.