Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) addressed the U.S. Senate floor, urging Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These provisions penalize local and state government workers who receive Social Security.

"The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset—or WEP and GPO—penalize families across the country who worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension," said Dr. Cassidy. "We're talking about police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public employees who are punished for serving their communities."

Cassidy highlighted that Louisiana has more first responders per capita than any other state in the nation and tens of thousands of teachers, making it disproportionately affected by WEP and GPO. He recounted a meeting with a retired Louisiana school teacher impacted by GPO: "As she cried in my office, she could not understand why she was getting less in Social Security spousal benefits than if she had never worked at all. She felt that she was being punished for educating generations of Louisiana children. And she was."

Cassidy has led a bipartisan working group focused on preserving and protecting Social Security. Last spring, he released a video titled "Bill on the Hill," where he engaged with Capitol Hill visitors about potential benefit cuts to Social Security and presented his plan to secure America's retirement system.

In March, Cassidy questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding President Biden's plan to address Social Security; Secretary Yellen admitted that "the president doesn’t have a plan" to save Social Security.

Cassidy has discussed his proposal at various forums, including an AARP event on the future of Social Security, a fireside chat with the Bipartisan Policy Committee, and through op-eds published in several major outlets.

Addressing his colleagues from the Senate floor, Cassidy stated: "Social Security is heading for a fiscal cliff in 9 years if we do nothing... I want to focus on two unfair provisions that we would eliminate if we had a chance to save Social Security."

He explained that WEP reduces benefits for individuals receiving pensions from non-Social Security-covered employment while GPO affects spousal or survivor benefits for those also receiving government pensions.

"WEP and GPO should have never become law," Cassidy asserted but expressed hope for change: "With President Biden stepping aside in the presidential race... why not support a bipartisan plan to save Social Security?"

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