NAPO is asking members who have been negatively impacted, or who have family members who have been impacted, by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) to share their experiences by emailing the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security by close of business on Dec. 4.

In a statement released to members, NAPO’s Director of Governmental Affairs Andrea Edmiston wrote:

"The U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a field hearing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 20 on “Social Security’s Disservice to Public Servants: How the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Mistreat Government Workers”. The hearing focused on the negative impact the WEP and GPO have on public retirees, including whether current retirees impacted by the provisions had any advanced notice or education and how the GPO and WEP affect their retirement security. NAPO President Mick McHale submitted the attached testimony urging action on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), which would totally repeal the GPO and WEP.

"During the field hearing, there was bipartisan recognition by the Subcommittee, as well as Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), on the unfairness of the GPO and WEP on our nation’s public servants. Chairman Smith pledged to continue working to find a bipartisan way to ensure public employees receive their promised retirement benefits, but he did not commit to moving H.R. 82.

"NAPO has long fought for the repeal of the GPO and WEP and we are diligently working to build on the momentum gained from this field hearing. To help our efforts, the Committee needs to hear from you if you or a family member are impacted by the GPO and WEP. The Committee is accepting comments from the public through close of business Monday, December 4. Please support our efforts by submitting comments now to WMSubmission@mail.house.gov with the subject line “Social Security’s Disservice to Public Servants: How the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Mistreat Government Workers.”  You must submit your comments as a Word document attached to the email and be sure to include a list of all persons and/or organizations who are submitting the comments in the Word document. Your email must include your name, organization (if applicable), address, and telephone number. Please copy NAPO’s Governmental Affairs Director Andy Edmiston at aedmiston@napo.org when submitting your comments.

If you are unable to submit comments by the December 4 deadline, but would still like to send in comments or your personal story, please send it in any format to Andy at aedmiston@napo.org and she will deliver them to the Committee. We are pushing the Committee to markup H.R. 82 in the new year and every story we can share matters and will help our efforts. It is never too late to share your story."