"Change happens slowly then all at once." - Ernest Hemingway
Public and government workers, with the support of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and other members of Congress, have been working for over 40 years to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO), signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
Things have been happening quickly since the discharge petition to remove H.R. 82 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 from the House Committee on Ways and Means in September 2024 and President Joe Biden signing H.R. 82 into law on January 5, 2025.
We will continue to post updates for our members who have been impacted by WEP and GPO.
Here's the most recent update from SSA.
Also from SSA:
If you had any change in your pension amount between January 2022 and December 2023, please provide us with the date of the change and the old and new pension amounts. You do not need to report any changes that occurred after December 2023.
If you received this message from SSA, you can request a customized letter from STRS Ohio to send to SSA.
From the February 25, 2025 update:
Starting the week of February 24, 2025, SSA is beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the WEP and GPO.
If a beneficiary is due retroactive benefits as a result of the Act, they will receive a one-time retroactive payment, deposited into the bank account SSA has on file, by the end of March. This retroactive payment will cover the increase in their benefit amount back to January 2024, the month when WEP and GPO no longer apply.
Social Security benefits are paid one month behind. Most affected beneficiaries will begin receiving their new monthly benefit amount in April 2025 (for their March 2025 benefit).
Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment.
NOTE: A beneficiary may receive two mailed notices, the first when WEP or GPO is removed from their record, and a second when their monthly benefit amount is adjusted for their new monthly payment amount. They may receive the retroactive payment before receiving the mailed notice.
We have been able to expedite payments due to the use of automation. For the many complex cases that cannot be processed automatically, additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both retroactive benefits and the new benefits amount.
We urge beneficiaries to wait until April to inquire about the status of their retroactive payment, since these payments will process incrementally throughout March.
Beneficiaries should also wait until after receiving their April payment before contacting SSA to ask about their monthly benefit amount because the new amount will not be reflected until April for their March payment.
We have been monitoring the implementation of H.R. 82 and would like to share some additional information with you.
If you are a retired educator, and you did not apply for SSA retirement, spousal, or survivor benefits when you retired because of the WEP or GPO, you should apply now.
There is a lot of conflicting information being posted on social media about when retirees will begin receiving adjusted benefits and retroactive payments. Everyone's situation is different. We will all have to wait for information from SSA.
As of January 6, 2025, SSA offices are no longer accepting walk-ins. You must make an appointment. Click here for more information.
Finally, we want to thank all of our members who contacted their U.S. Representatives and Senators, asking them to support H.R. 82. You made this happen!
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