{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-signs-bipartisan-discharge-petition-to-protect-mainers-social-security-benefits", "Golden signs bipartisan discharge petition to protect Mainers\u2019 Social Security benefits", "2024-09-10", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) is pushing to force a House vote on eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which reduce Social Security benefits for millions of public employees, such as teachers and first responders.\n\nGolden today signed a bipartisan discharge petition to bring H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, to the floor. He is one of 326 cosponsors of the bill.\n\n\u201cPublic workers earned their full retirements after decades of selfless service. Limiting their benefits after they\u2019ve already paid into the system is wrong,\u201d Golden said. \u201cI\u2019ve opposed the WEP and GPO throughout my time in Congress and am proud to take this necessary step to force a vote on protecting Mainers\u2019 full retirement benefits.\u201d\n\nThe WEP and GPO were enacted in 1983 to reduce pensions for public employees who already receive other retirement benefits. The WEP reduces payments by up to half for those receiving both Social Security and outside pensions that were excluded from payroll taxes. The GPO reduces payments by up to two-thirds for beneficiaries that receive both a government pension and spousal or survivor benefits from Social Security.\n\nAs of 2023, more than 21,000 Mainers were affected by the WEP.\n\nA discharge petition allows a majority of lawmakers to force a floor vote on legislation that has stalled in committee. This petition was filed and opened to signatures today.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-signs-bipartisan-discharge-petition-to-protect-mainers-social-security-benefits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8095279335975647, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}