Parliament looks ready to finally repeal WEP and GPO

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives appear poised to finally pass legislation that would repeal two controversial tax provisions affecting the annual incomes of some federal retirees, despite an attempt to derail this week’s vote.

Last September, Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., 218 signatures A discharge petition was required to hold a floor vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), a measure that would eliminate Social Security’s windfall elimination provision and state pension offset. Before the petition campaign, the bill already had more than 300 sponsors.

A windfall elimination provision reduces Social Security benefits for retired federal employees who spent part of their careers in the private sector in addition to federal, state or local government jobs for which Social Security was not designed as a component of their retirement income. As the Public Service Retirement System. And the government’s pension cut reduces the spouse’s and survivors’ Social Security benefits in families with retired government employees.

The successful discharge petition requires House Speaker Mike Johnson, a co-sponsor of the bill, to call the measure for a floor vote when Congress returns to Washington. The measure is on a list of bills that House leadership wants to pass under a suspension of the rules; It’s a fast track that requires support from two-thirds of lawmakers, despite a failed attempt to stall the bill’s momentum by two DC-2 conservatives in the district this week.

Just after 5 p.m. on Election Day, former and current chairs of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. and Andy Harris, R-Md., held a pro forma hearing on the House floor. Good requested unanimous consent to table the legislation — effectively killing the bill. The change was first reported by: roll call.

But the gamble apparently failed for two reasons. First, requests for unanimous consent must first be discussed with the House speaker and the House Minority Leader, as a House parliamentarian can be heard briefing Good and Harris on the House floor.

Second, as Freedom Caucus members move to table Graves and Spanberger’s bill, the discharge petition requires the speaker to schedule a vote on the rule governing the bill’s consideration in the chamber. Indeed, the measure is at the top of the House’s list of bills to be considered under the rules suspension next week, last updated one hour after the proforma session.

It remains unclear how the measure will fare in the Senate. complementary legislation It has the support of 63 senators but has languished in committee since its introduction last year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the measure would cost $196 billion in additional Social Security benefit spending over the next decade.