Millions of public workers to receive increased Social Security benefits under new legislation signed by Biden.

• On Sunday, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, allowing nearly 3 million public workers to increase their Social Security benefits.
• The bipartisan legislation repeals two provisions that reduced Social Security benefits for public workers who also receive pension income.
• The historic move was praised by advocacy groups who had lobbied for the changes for decades.

On Sunday, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that enables public sector workers who receive pension income, including teachers, firefighters, and police officers, to receive increases in their Social Security benefits.

The new law eliminates two provisions, the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, that have been in place for more than four decades, resulting in a benefit boost.

About 2 million Social Security beneficiaries have their benefits reduced under the WEP due to not having Social Security payroll taxes withheld from their employment pension or disability benefits.

Almost 750,000 Social Security beneficiaries had their benefits reduced by the GPO in December 2023 due to receiving income from their own government pensions.

"Biden announced on Sunday that by signing the bill, millions of teachers, nurses, and other public employees, as well as their spouses and survivors, would receive an estimated average of $360 per month increase in Social Security benefits."

He stated that the extra income is a significant matter for middle-class households.

Biden announced that over 2.5 million Americans will receive a substantial payment in 2024 to compensate for the benefits they were shorted.

The Social Security Fairness Act will impact Social Security benefits after December 2023, but the specifics of how the benefit increase will be applied are not yet known, as stated by the Social Security Administration.

The repeal of WEP and GPO will enable federal retirees, like many others, to receive their full Social Security benefits, as stated by William Shackelford, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.

The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the House in November with a 327 bipartisan majority, while the bill was passed by the Senate on Dec. 21 with a 76 bipartisan majority vote.

The signing of the bill by Biden was hailed as a historic move by advocacy groups who had lobbied for the changes.

"Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, stated that our organization has spent decades lobbying for the repeal of the WEP and GPO. We are pleased to announce that we have endorsed the Social Security Fairness Act, which has now been enacted and signed by the president."

The provisions have reduced Social Security benefits for decades.

"This victory, which has been 40 years in the making, marks a significant milestone in our fight for fairness in retirement benefits for all public servants. While we celebrate today, we also remember those who were impacted by these provisions but are no longer here to witness this change. Their service and contributions will never be forgotten, and we honor their legacy by continuing to advocate for fairness in retirement benefits for all public servants."