Imagine you worked as a public employee for 14 years. Then you took another job where you made more money and subsequently paid the maximum contributions to Social Security for many years. However, when you retire you find that SS only sees 23 years of “significant contributions” and because you were a public employee, your SS pension will be cut by 45%. How would you feel?

This is the effect of the Windfall Elimination Provision, something of which many public employees aren’t even aware. The Government Pension Offset affects spouses of public employees whose pensions are similarly cut. The GPO is especially unfair to women who stay home to raise children and depend on their husband’s SS pension. It is unfair to penalize one group over another. Public employees include teachers, firefighters, police officers and city workers.

There is a bill in congress called the Social Security Fairness Act House Resolution 82. This would overturn the draconian WEP and GPO that were enacted decades ago. Please contact your congressional representative and encourage them to support it. Please make SS fair for all of us.

Colleen Hewes

Pendleton

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