COLUMBUS, OH – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, hosted a field hearing in Columbus on his bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act – legislation to restore full Social Security benefits for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public servants. This legislation would repeal two provisions of current law that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits that public employees earn.
At the hearing, entitled “Keeping the Promise of Social Security for Ohio’s First Responders and Public Servants,” Brown announced new support for the bill, including the crucial endorsem*nt of Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR). The hearing featured two panels of Ohioans who shared their experiences and how their retirement security is threatened by two old, unfair provisions in law that unfairly cut the Social Security benefits they’ve earned through years of hard work and service.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. It’s retirement security that Americans pay into and earn over a lifetime of work – and workers count on it to be there for them when they retire. And I’m committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security for those who have worked and paid social security taxes throughout their careers,” said Brown in his opening statement.
“It’s an issue that has a huge impact on your lives, but it doesn’t get enough attention in Washington. The people it affects aren’t powerful special interests – they’re local cops and sheriff’s deputies, they’re firefighters, they’re teachers, they work at our parks and libraries, they pick up our trash, and plow our roads,” Brown continued.
The hearing featured two panels of local Ohio public servants as witnesses:
Panel one included Brian Steel, President, Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9; George Sakellakis, Director of Organization, Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Jamie Patton, Sheriff of Union County on behalf of Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association; and Carl Jordan, Pension and Disability Representative, Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters.
Panel two included Barb Ward, special needs bus driver, Fairland Local Schools; Diane Gibson, retired teacher and member of the Ohio Federation of Teachers; and Cheryl Williams, School Secretary, Bailey Elementary School.
“We are not asking for special treatment, only for what we have rightfully earned—equal treatment under the law,” said Brian Steele, President of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9.
“These arcane provisions negatively affect our ability to attract and retain good, hard working members of law enforcement who just want to be treated the same as their neighbors when they retire,” said George Sakellakis, Director of Organization for the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “The message from Ohio law enforcement is clear - let's get this done.”
“Now’s the time, look the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was enacted in 1983, the Government Pension Offset (GPO) was enacted in 1977, do we keep kicking the can down the road and say that’s the way we’ve always done it OR do we re-evaluate antiquated laws and make changes to meet our needs of today, most every employer in the United States is struggling recruiting and retaining employees, please help us with repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO),” said Jamie Patton, member of the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association.
“Right now, the system isn’t fair. You work hard all your life just to have a portion of the retirement rug pulled from underneath you. It’s why Congress needs to pass Senator Brown’s legislation to fix WEP so all hard working men and women get what they’re entitled to receive,” said Carl Jordan, Pension and Disability Representative, Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters.
“I and others like me should not be penalized because of our decades of work in public schools.
I believe that it is imperative for Congress to act to eliminate the serious inequities and unintended consequences of the application of the GPO and WEP laws,” said Barbara Ward, special needs bus driver. “Senator Brown, thank you for championing public pensioners through your work on the Social Security Fairness Act (S. 597) and I urge Congress to pass this important legislation as soon as possible.”
“I have had a career in education that I am genuinely proud of. I am not alone in facing WEP and GPO. As an active member of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers’ Retiree Chapter, I meet others in my situation all the time. WEP and GPO are hurting retired educators and making it hard for the schools we spent our careers in to attract teachers at times of record teacher shortages. Congress must finally act and pass the Social Security Fairness Act so that educators, as well as law enforcement, firefighters and their families can finally receive the full Social Security benefits they deserve,” said Diane Gibson, retired teacher and member of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
“These antiquated and out of touch policies deprive public servants and our families of the Social Security benefits we have earned simply because we have a pension from decades of public service. It is time for Congress to act on the leadership shown by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and repeal GPO and WEP by passing the Social Security Fairness Act,” said Cheryl Williams, School Secretary at Bailey Elementary School.
Background on Brown’s Social Security Fairness Act:
More than 270,000 Ohioans, many of whom are law enforcement officers and first responders, are prevented from receiving the full Social Security benefits they earn due to two laws from the 1970s and 1980s. The Windfall Elimination Provision, enacted in 1983, reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government for employment not covered by Social Security. The Government Pension Offset, enacted in 1977, reduces Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers whose spouses receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government. TheSocial Security Fairness Actwould repeal both of these laws, ensuring law enforcement, firefighters, teachers, park rangers, and other public sector workers and their families receive the full Social Security benefits they earn.
Brown’s opening statement as prepared for delivery is below:
The Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy will come to order.
This is a unique day for the subcommittee, getting out of Washington and coming to Ohio. I always say the best ideas don’t come from Washington, they come from Ohio.
That’s why I’m looking forward to hearing today from our seven Ohio witnesses, who will share the stories of their lives and their careers, and how their retirement security, and that of their colleagues, is threatened by two old provisions that unfairly cut the Social Security benefits they’ve earned over years of hard work and service.
First, I want to thank the Columbus Firefighters Local 67, for hosting us here today, and thank you to the officers from the Columbus Police Department that are here.
And the rest of you have come from near and far: you work in our fire halls, our police stations, our schools, our parks, our libraries, and more. You collect garbage and drive buses and keep our streets safe. Thank you all for your commitment to public service.
If you look around this room, you will see that the combined years of service you all bring totals thousands of years of service to Ohio and to this great nation. Thank you.
The witnesses we’re about to hear from, and the people here in this room are all dedicated to the communities you serve. You’re teachers, firefighters, police officers, sheriffs and deputies, nurses, dispatchers, bus drivers, school support staff, municipal employees, and more.
You didn’t go into this work to get rich. You did it because you all heard the call, in one form or another, to make your communities a better place for everyone.
And it’s absurd that for decades now, two laws have punished you and your work by cutting the Social Security benefits that you all have earned throughout your lives.
Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. It’s retirement security that Americans pay into and earn over a lifetime of work. Workers count on it to be there for them when they retire.
I’m committed to strengthening Social Security. And that starts with addressing these two old, unfair rules, which prevent more than three million Americans and more than 270,000 Ohioans – some of whom are here today – from receiving the full Social Security benefits you’ve earned.
The laws also punish people who want to start a career in public service. We have a serious problem recruiting and retaining workers – whether it’s cops on the beat or teachers in classrooms. And these laws discourage people from entering service as a second career.
Imagine a young woman who leaves military service and wants to become a cop, only to be told that in addition to the daily challenges of the job, her Social Security benefits – which she earned – will be slashed.
I have spoken to firefighters who waited years to join the fire department – it is a dream come true for them. But fulfilling that dream shouldn’t mean losing the Social Security contributions they’ve made.
Punishing public servants by cutting the Social Security they earned in other jobs is NOT a good way to recruit and retain. It’s a terrible way to recruit and retain.
This makes no sense, and it’s why I introduced the Social Security Fairness Act.
It’s a simple bill with a simple premise. The bill makes sure cops and firefighters and teachers and other public workers get the full Social Security they’ve earned over their careers.
It’s an issue that has a huge impact on your lives, but it doesn’t get enough attention in Washington. The people it affects aren’t powerful special interests – they’re local cops and sheriff’s deputies, they’re firefighters, they’re teachers, they work at our parks and libraries, they pick up our trash, and plow our roads.
You hear the term “windfall elimination” and have to wonder: what is this so-called “windfall” that politicians in Washington are talking about? All you’re asking for is what you’ve earned.
This issue reminds me of the pension crisis, which threatened the pensions of 100,000 Ohioans. Hardly anyone in Washington was paying attention. But those Ohioans put it on the agenda and they never gave up.
For years, most people in Washington ignored them. And over and over, these Ohioans watched corporations get tax cuts and Wall Street get bailouts. These pensioners weren’t asking for bailouts or handouts, and neither are you.
All you’re asking for is what you’ve earned.
We all remember the pensions fight took a lot longer than it should have – but we got it done. And we’ll do the same thing with the Social Security Fairness Act.
We’ve built more support than ever: but we still need one more.
Followers of DC inside baseball will tell you that 60 votes is the number you need to break a filibuster in the Senate.
I’m announcing here this morning that we’ve added Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden as a cosponsor, which gives us a total of 59 cosponsors on the bill. 59.
As Chairman Wyden put it in his written statement for this hearing: “These Americans chose a life of service; we should not be unfairly penalizing them.”
I’m proud that this effort has strong bipartisan support. Senator Cassidy, whom I’ve partnered with on a number of issues and is a member of this subcommittee, said this in his statement for this hearing: “There is no public policy reason to treat our public servants this way.” I agree with my friend and colleague from Louisiana.
We’ve built real momentum. We’ll spend this morning hearing from our witnesses and adding to the already strong case for the Senate to act and to finally restore the full Social Security benefits you’ve earned.
It’s simple: when you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. That’s what all of you spend your days doing, and I won’t stop fighting until we make this right.
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