Bill Text: TX HCR82 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-06 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HCR82 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HCR82-Introduced.html
| 84R4550 RA-D | ||
| By: Herrero | H.C.R. No. 82 | |
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| WHEREAS, Social security is the foundation for retirement | ||
| income for tens of millions of American workers and their families; | ||
| nearly two-thirds of the older Americans who receive program | ||
| benefits rely on social security for 50 percent or more of their | ||
| total income, over one-third rely on it for 90 percent or more, and | ||
| for 24 percent it is their only 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; an estimated 9 out of 10 | ||
| public employees 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 $400 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; almost two million government | ||
| employees and retirees are affected by either the GPO or the WEP or | ||
| both, and the repercussions are 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 is | ||
| 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 84th 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. | ||
