A bill to alter certain Social Security regulations may soon be voted on by the Senate. Here's what you need to know.

• The Senate is set to vote on abolishing certain Social Security guidelines that restrict benefits for certain public employees.
• Here are answers to some common questions about what the changes would mean.

In the Senate's last days of this Congressional session, a bill is expected to be voted on, which alters certain Social Security regulations.

The Social Security Fairness Act would eliminate certain provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive pension income from public sector jobs.

The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Nov. 12 with the backing of members from both sides of the political divide.

The Senate must pass the bill before the deadline to prevent a federal government shutdown, which is already scheduled.

What Social Security rules would be repealed?

The Social Security Fairness Act would abolish specific rules that impact certain public pensioners, including the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

Individuals who receive income from non-covered pensions have their Social Security benefit payments reduced under the WEP.

The GPO modifies Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits for individuals who derive income from non-covered pensions.

Both rules have been in effect for decades.

In 1983, the WEP was introduced to ensure that workers with non-covered pensions were not mistakenly reimbursed as if they were long-time low-wage earners. Social Security's benefit formula is progressive, meaning that low earners receive a higher income replacement rate.

In 1977, the Government Pension Offset was introduced, which reduces Social Security benefits for spouses and surviving spouses who receive a pension based on their own government work that was not subject to Social Security payroll taxes and Social Security spousal benefits based on their spouse's work record.

Who is — and isn't — affected by the rules?

According to the Social Security Administration, 3.1% of all Social Security beneficiaries were affected by the WEP as of 2022, which translates to 2.01 million individuals.

Almost 735,000 Social Security beneficiaries were affected by the GPO as of 2022, which accounts for about 1% of all beneficiaries, according to previous estimates from the Congressional Research Service.

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To be sure, the WEP and GPO do not apply to everyone.

The WEP does not affect beneficiaries who have earned at least 30 years of substantial income under Social Security, as well as certain other specific categories, as determined by the Social Security Administration. These categories include federal workers hired after December 31, 1983, employees of non-profit organizations exempt from Social Security coverage as of December 31, 1983, railroad pension recipients, and individuals whose only work that did not include Social Security taxes was before 1957.

Government Pension Office (GPO) typically does not impact spouses or surviving spouses who receive pensions that are not based on their earnings or who are federal, state, or local government employees whose pension comes from employment where they paid Social Security taxes.

On its website, the Social Security Administration offers an estimating tool for how a pension may impact Social Security benefits.

What are the chances the bill will pass?

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader from New York, announced that he would bring the Social Security Fairness Act to a vote last week.

This week, Schumer plans to call a cloture vote on the motion to proceed, and if it passes with 60 votes, the rest of the process will move quickly, according to Maria Freese, senior legislative representative at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

""If they can secure 60 votes for the motion to proceed, they will likely succeed in passing it this year, according to Freese," he stated."

Although a Senate version of the bill has 62 co-sponsors, there is no assurance that it will receive 62 votes, according to Freese. Two of the original co-sponsors, Senators Bob Menendez and Dianne Feinstein, are no longer in office. However, their successors, Senators Andy Kim and Adam Schiff, both supported the bill when they were members of the House.

Vice president-elect J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, may not be present to vote, Freese said.

If a motion to proceed is passed, Senate leadership may allow for the proposal of amendments to the bill, said Emerson Sprick, associate director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. These amendments could aim to replace a full repeal of the rules with a different solution or to offset the cost of benefit increases.

Sprick stated that the process for a significant change to Social Security has not been ideal,

The House bill co-sponsors filed a discharge petition to bring it to the floor for a vote, bypassing committees. In the Senate, lawmakers have not yet had the chance to consider the drawbacks of a full repeal of the rules and the alternatives, according to Sprick.

"Repealing the program entirely would make it less fair and more financially unstable," Sprick stated.

How soon would affected beneficiaries see changes in their benefit checks?

According to Freese, implementing the change for nearly 3 million Social Security beneficiaries may take time.

If Congress does not provide additional funding to the Social Security Administration, which is already understaffed, it may lose 2,000 more employees, according to a spokesperson.

It will take time for the agency's staff to reprogram its computers and send out the new benefit payment amounts.

The Social Security Administration will likely send catch-up checks or deposits retroactively if the change is not put into effect immediately, Freese said.

How will the bill affect other Social Security reform?

The Social Security Fairness Act has garnered significant backing from organizations representing firefighters, police, teachers, and other government workers who would be impacted by the abolition of these guidelines.

The progressive nature of the program would be altered if the rules were nixed, as policy experts generally oppose the change.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget states that moving Social Security's projected trust fund depletion date by six months would cost approximately $196 billion over a decade.

In nine years, the program's trustees project that the trust fund that supports retirement benefits may deplete.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stated in a critical commentary that the efforts to abolish the WEP and GPO rules are leading us towards our own financial ruin.

The bill's passage would not only affect future reform efforts but also address the larger issues facing Social Security, according to Freese.

"As the depletion date approaches, it becomes increasingly difficult, Freese explained, because there is less flexibility in terms of making changes to the program to ensure its solvency. With less time left, it becomes more challenging to implement necessary changes."