House Ways & Means Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Social Security and Economically Vulnerable Beneficiaries

On Wednesday, January 16, 2007, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Chaired by Representative Michael McNulty (D-NY), held a hearing to examine Social Security provisions affecting public employees and their families who face hardships in retirement or in the event of disability or death.  Among the issues the Subcommittee explored was the impact of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) on certain retired state and local government employees.

NAPO attended the hearing and was pleased to hear both Republican and Democratic Committee members pledge a bipartisan effort to address the issues affecting public employees, namely the GPO and WEP.  While Committee members did not agree on the issue of fully repealing the two provisions, they did agree that the provisions have to be reformed in order to deal with the problems and concerns facing vulnerable retirees.

The first panel consisted of a witness from the Social Security Administration and one from the Congressional Research Service.  The purpose of this panel was to provide background information on Social Security benefits and provisions that affect economically vulnerable beneficiaries, specifically widows and widowers, long-term low income earners, individuals with disabilities, and state and local public employees not covered by Social Security.   

The second panel was made up of retired public employees and principals of organizations representing disabled individuals and widows.  Of the seven witnesses who participated in the second panel, five testified on the adverse effects of the GPO and WEP on public employees.  All five recommended full repeal of the two provisions to the Committee.   

From statements made by Committee members during the hearing, it seems the course of Congressional action in regards to the GPO and WEP will come down to two things:  doing what is fair for economically vulnerable Social Security beneficiaries and what is feasible considering the current federal budget situation.  It is estimated that totally repealing the GPO and WEP would cost the federal government $80 billion over ten years, while proposals to only reform the provisions would cost approximately $5 billion over ten years.  However, NAPO feels it is important for lawmakers to recognize that the $80 billion being saved by the enactment of the GPO and WEP are $80 billion saved at the expense of the economic welfare of retired public employees.   

As we did for the Senate Finance Subcommittee Hearing on the GPO and WEP, NAPO has acquired permission to send in written submissions to the Subcommittee for the record.   NAPO is including in our testimony the statements that we received from members for the House Subcommittee hearing in November.   

If you wish to put forward a statement for the hearing record, you can either send your testimony via email to NAPO to be submitted with our testimony or you can visit the House Ways and Means Committee Website and submit electronically.  If you choose to send your testimony to NAPO, please email it to Andy Mournighan, NAPO’s Government Affairs Director, at amournighan@napo.org by Monday, January 28, 2008.   

If you would like to submit your statement directly to the Ways and Means Committee, please go to the Committee homepage (http://waysandmeans.house.gov), click on “Committee Hearings” at the top of the page and select “110^th Congress.”  Select the hearing entitled “Social Security Benefits for Economically Vulnerable Beneficiaries” and click on the link “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, completing all informational forms and clicking “submit” on the final page, an email will be sent to the address which you supplied confirming your interest in providing a submission for the record.  You must reply to the email and attach your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, by close of business Wednesday, January 30, 2008.   

Your statement must not exceed 10 pages in length, including attachments.  All submissions must include a list of all persons and/or organizations on whose behalf the document is submitted.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company (if applicable), address, telephone and fax numbers of the person submitting. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue or regarding submitting a statement for the Committee record, please contact Andy Mournighan at (800) 322-NAPO.