President Biden on Sunday signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which will increase the Social Security benefit payments for former and current public employees who previously had their benefits reduced due to having “non-covered pensions.” The new bill will affect millions of people who have worked in public service roles.
The payment boost they’ll get will be in addition to the recent Social Security COLA for 2025, which brings a 2.5% increase for Social Security, Social Security Disability, and Supplemental Security Income recipients.
Below, we’ll break down what the Social Security Fairness Act does and those who’ll be affected by it. For more, here are the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payment schedules.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the House in November 2024, and signed by Biden on Jan. 5, 2025. It eliminates earlier rules that limited payments to public service workers such as teachers, firefighters, postal service workers and police officers, meaning that those people will soon receive bigger payouts.
Specifically, it repeals these two rules:
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP): Enacted in 1983,it is a formula used to adjust Social Security worker benefits for people who receive “non-covered pensions” but also qualify for Social Security benefits on other earnings that are covered by Social Security. A “non-covered pension” is a pension paid by someone’s employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes from their salary.
The Government Pension Offset (GPO): Enacted in 1977 and adjusted in 1983, it reduced Social Security benefits of spouses, widows, and widowers who also received government pensions of their own.
Collectively, only about 4% of all Social Security beneficiaries are affected by the WEP and GPO, but the impact on those households can be profound.
The act applies to payable benefits after December of 2023.
If you qualify, what should you do?
The Social Security Administration is currently evaluating how to implement the Social Security Fairness Act and more details, when available, will be provided on the SSA website. We’ll update this article when more details are announced.
If you’ve previously filed for Social Security benefits and they were either partially or fully offset by WEP or GPO, the only thing that SSA suggests you to do for now is to have your current mailing address and direct deposit information on your account. This can be done online via your my Social Security account, by calling 1-800-772-1213, or by visiting a local office.
For more, don’t miss our Social Security and SSDI cheat sheet and four ways you could potentially lose your Social Security benefits.