Bill Text: TX SCR28 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging Congress to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-10 - Signed by the Governor [SCR28 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SCR28-Enrolled.html
| S.C.R. No. 28 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Social Security is the foundation for retirement for | ||
| tens of millions of American workers and their families, with many | ||
| reporting that they rely on the program as their sole source of | ||
| income; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Two Social Security provisions, however, the | ||
| Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, and the Windfall | ||
| Elimination Provision (WEP), enacted in 1983, severely and unfairly | ||
| penalize recipients of public pensions; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The GPO effectively prohibits some government | ||
| retirees from collecting both their own pension and full Social | ||
| Security benefits as a surviving spouse; nearly three-quarters of | ||
| beneficiaries affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal | ||
| benefit, even though their spouses paid Social Security taxes for | ||
| many years; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit for | ||
| public employees who did not participate in Social Security while | ||
| working for the government, but who at some time in their careers | ||
| were in jobs where they paid Social Security taxes for the period | ||
| required to qualify for retirement benefits; the WEP can deprive a | ||
| retiree of more than $500 a month in Social Security benefits duly | ||
| earned by that individual; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Although these provisions were intended to curtail | ||
| the payment of windfall benefits to highly paid government | ||
| employees, in practice they have had and continue to have | ||
| devastating consequences for low-income employees who worked for | ||
| many years as public servants; as of December 2018, more than two | ||
| million government employees and retirees had been affected by | ||
| either the GPO or the WEP or both, and the repercussions have been | ||
| felt most acutely in Texas and 14 other states where a high | ||
| proportion of public employees participate in state or municipal | ||
| retirement systems that do not include Social Security; and | ||
| WHEREAS, These punitive and discriminatory provisions target | ||
| hundreds of thousands of teachers, police officers, firefighters, | ||
| and other public servants; although the vast majority of Texas | ||
| school employees participate in the state's teacher retirement | ||
| system, and therefore are not required to and do not participate in | ||
| the Social Security system, many Texas teachers and other public | ||
| school employees nonetheless have earned Social Security benefits | ||
| on their own behalf through other employment, the WEP | ||
| notwithstanding, or would be entitled to spousal Social Security | ||
| benefits based on their spouses' lifetime earnings were it not for | ||
| the GPO penalty; these provisions cause veteran teachers to retire | ||
| prematurely and discourage qualified individuals from entering the | ||
| teaching profession at precisely the time that Texas and the nation | ||
| face a severe shortage of highly qualified educators; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The GPO and WEP as applied to public employees are | ||
| unreasonable and unjust and will cause tens of thousands of | ||
| government retirees to experience a diminished quality of life or | ||
| be forced to return to work to make up for the effects of these | ||
| provisions; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to | ||
| repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination | ||
| Provision of the Social Security Act; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record | ||
| as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 28 was adopted by the Senate | ||
| on April 3, 2023, by a viva-voce vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 28 was adopted by the House | ||
| on April 26, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, | ||
| one present not voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| Approved: | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
