Public Employees Celebrate One Year Anniversary Of The Social Security Fairness Act, Led By Then Senator Sherrod Brown
On January 5, 2025, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which eliminated the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) rules, which had for 40 years unfairly harmed public service retirees.
"The victory was decades in the making, and was a product of nonstop advocacy and perseverance from public employee union members, retires and Senator Sherrod Brown," said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga. "One year ago, over two million public employee retirees who dedicated their careers to public service were finally able to receive the full retirement benefits they earned."
Then Senator Brown, who spent years leading the fight to repeal WEP and GPO, sponsored the Social Security Fairness Act in the Senate and held a hearing in Columbus in the summer of 2024 to build support for the legislation.
“Sherrod has been a great friend of labor and deserves credit for making sure our members receive the Social Security benefits they deserve,” OCSEA/AFSCME Chris Mabe said when the bill passed the Senate. “We can’t thank him enough.”
"OAPSE members and retirees, along with all public employees, don't have to worry about cuts to earned Social Security benefits in retirement anymore. OAPSE leadership and activists led the way in this fight, so lets celebrate this victory on the one year anniversary of the Bill signing," said OAPSE/AFSCME on their Facebook page.