Senate to hold final vote on boosting Social Security benefits for many public service retirees

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will take a final vote later Friday on a proposal to increase Social Security payments for millions of people, potentially the last bill Congress will pass this year, pushing former public officials to Priorities.

The bipartisan bill would eliminate long-term reductions in Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from jobs in federal, state and local governments or public service jobs such as teachers, firefighters and police officers. Supporters say the Social Security Equity Act corrects decades of inequality, although it will also further strain the Social Security trust funds.

The legislation has been decades in the making, but lawmakers pushed it through in the final weeks in Washington before Congress reconvenes next year. All but one Senate Democrats and 23 Republicans supported bringing it to a final vote.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it “important for our retired teachers, firefighters, postal workers, police officers and the many other public servants who deserve full Social Security benefits.” .

The bill repeals two provisions—the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset—that restricted certain beneficiaries from receiving pension benefits from other sources, such as state or local government public retirement plans.

“Social Security is the cornerstone of our middle class. It’s retirement security that Americans pay and earn over their lifetimes,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who has pushed for the proposal for years, but in Will leave Congress after losing re-election.

He added that the current restrictions “make no sense”. These workers serve the public. They protect our communities. They teach our children. They pay into Social Security just like everyone else.

People currently receiving reduced Social Security benefits under exceptions will soon see an increase in their monthly payments. But these increased spending will also increase the federal deficit by about $195 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

It is estimated that the Social Security trust fund will not be able to pay full benefits starting in 2035, and this change will bring forward the program’s bankruptcy date by about half a year. According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a typical two-income couple will see an additional $25,000 less in lifetime benefits when they retire in 2033.

Many opponents of the bill acknowledge that current cuts are unfair to public service retirees but say they cannot support the bill when the entire program is facing challenges.

“We’re giving in to the pressures of the moment rather than doing it on a sustainable basis,” said North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who opposed the bill.

The policy changes will also create more work for the Social Security Administration, which already has staffing levels at a 50-year low. The agency currently has about 56,400 employees, its lowest level since 1972, even though it is serving more people than ever before, according to an agency spokesman. A stopgap government funding bill also being considered late Friday does not include increased funding for the agency, which is currently under a hiring freeze.

Still, the bill’s Republican backers say it’s a rare opportunity to address what they say are unfair parts of federal law that hurt public service retirees.

“They’ve earned these benefits. This is an unfair, unfair punishment,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Republican backers of the bill also said they would recommit to larger repairs to Social Security. However, President-elect Donald Trump has said he will not touch those benefits even if his administration looks to make deep budget cuts elsewhere.

Still, Senate Republicans are working on some ideas to put the program on a better financial footing, but that would inevitably require scaling back benefits. Sen. Rand Paul, a fiscal hawk, pushed Friday for a proposal to gradually raise the Social Security retirement age to 70.

“We need to get this right over the next few years and have the courage to address our safety issues,” Tillis said. “If we don’t do this one day, we’re going to regret it.”