{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-celebrates-long-overdue-passage-of-social-security-fairness-act", "Murkowski Celebrates Long-Overdue Passage of Social Security Fairness Act", "2024-12-21", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", "murkowski", "https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/press-releases?PageNum_rs=10", "scraper", "Washington, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced that the Senate passed H.R. 82 The Social Security Fairness Act tonight in a bipartisan vote of 76-20. This legislation repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which have reduced the amount of Social Security benefits accessible to select federal, state, local employees, and to their spouses and survivors. Senator Murkowski has been a longstanding supporter of the Social Security Fairness Act since her arrival to the Senate, co-sponsoring the legislation every year since 2003. H.R. 82 is the companion bill to S. 597, introduced in the Senate. The bill will now go to the President for his signature.\n\n\u201cI have been working on the Social Security Fairness Act for as long as I\u2019ve been representing Alaska in the United States Senate,\u201d Senator Murkowski said. \u201cThere is no doubt that Congress has taken too long to address this inequity, but I am grateful to the diligent bipartisan work of my colleagues to help us finally get this over the finish line. This legislation takes care of Alaskans who have dedicated years of service to our communities, serving in integral roles such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Hardworking public servants should not be denied the benefits that they paid for because of their career choices, and I\u2019m relieved that this longstanding injustice has been remedied.\u201d\n\n\"The Alaska AFL-CIO and all of its affiliated unions are elated with the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. The GPO/ WEP provisions have existed for far too long impacting the lives of thousands of Alaska workers and their heirs,\u201d said Joelle Hall, President of Alaska AFL-CIO. Punishing public employees and their heirs for dedicating their lives to their community is wrong and we want to thank Senator Murkowski for her long-standing support for fixing this policy that has hurt so many families.\"\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s vote is incredibly welcome news to thousands of Alaska\u2019s current and former public employees who have been unfairly punished simply for their public service,\u201d said Heidi Drygas, Executive Director of ASEA/AFSCME Local 52. \u201cWe thank Senator Murkowski for her leadership on this critically important issue for our membership. So many Alaska families will breathe easier tonight knowing they will receive the full retirement that they deserve. Thank you to the thousands of AFSCME employees and retirees for their decades of persistent advocacy on this issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlaska\u2019s law enforcement personnel have worked too hard and put too much on the line in service of our communities to not receive their fully deserved Social Security benefits,\u201d said President Shaun Kuzakin, Public Safety Employees Association, Local 803. \u201cI\u2019m relieved that this long-standing injustice has been corrected and grateful to Senator Murkowski for her support for Alaska\u2019s public safety employees.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlaska's firefighters applaud Senator Murkowski for standing up for public workers across Alaska,\u201d said Dominic Lozano, President of Alaska Professional Fire Fighters. \u201cFor too long the federal government has been withholding portions of our social security benefits unfairly. Senator Murkowski understands the importance of this legislation and has been advocating for Alaskans since she started in the Senate. Retirees throughout Alaska know the importance of this legislation as well as future generations of Alaskans who will now receive their full social security benefit.\u201d\n\n\u201cPassage of H.R. 82 is historic and will immediately make a positive difference in the lives of thousands of former military members, public servants and educators. We\u2019re grateful that Senator Murkowski has been fighting alongside Alaska\u2019s educators on this issue for her entire career in the US Senate,\u201d said Kathy Simpler, Director of the National Education Association-Alaska.\n\n\u201cMore than 17,000 former public servants in Alaska, and over 2.8 million nationally, are unfairly penalized by WEP and GPO. With this Senate vote, backed by Senator Murkowski, we will finally receive the full benefits we earned through our hard work. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will be forever grateful for Senator Murkowski\u2019s leadership in the effort to repeal WEP and GPO, which NARFE has been advocating for 40 years,\u201d said Paul McIntosh, President of the National Active and Retired Employees Association.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe WEP, enacted in 1983, reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government for employment not covered by Social Security. The GPO, enacted in 1977, reduces Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers whose spouses receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government. Together, these provisions reduce Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million Americans \u2013 including those who worked teachers, state employees, and public safety officers. Alaska is one of the most disproportionately and negatively affected states per capita by the WEP and GPO.\n\nThe Social Security Fairness Act has been endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations Alaska (AFL-CIO Alaska), Alaska Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA), Alaska Professional Fighters Association (APFA), National Education Association \u2013 Alaska (NEA-A), National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Alaska (NARFE Alaska), Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA), Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Strengthen Medicare (NCPSSM), Social Security Works, Strengthen Social Security Coalition, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), International Union of Police Association (IUPA), National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Education Association (NEA), and the Senior Citizens League.\n\nBelow is a timeline of previous iterations of the legislation that Senator Murkowski has co-sponsored.\n\nTimeline:\n\nMarch 2023: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 597 the Social Security Fairness Act in the 118th Congress.\n\nApril 2021: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 1302 Social Security Fairness Act in the 117th Congress.\n\nFebruary 2019: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 521 Social Security Fairness Act of 2019 in the 116th Congress.\n\nApril 2017: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 915 Social Security Fairness Act of 2017 in the 115th Congress.\n\nJune 2015: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 1651 Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 in the 114th Congress.\n\nMay 2013: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 896 Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 in the 113th Congress.\n\nDecember 2011: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 2010 Social Security Fairness Act of 2011 in the 112th Congress.\n\nFebruary 2009: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 484 Social Security Fairness Act of 2009 in the 111th Congress.\n\nJanuary 2007: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 206 Social Security Fairness Act of 2007 in the 110th Congress.\n\nMarch 2005: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S.619 Social Security Fairness Act of 2005 in the 109th Congress.\n\nFebruary 2003: Senator Murkowski co-sponsors S. 349 The Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 in the 108th Congress.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "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://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/murkowski-celebrates-long-overdue-passage-of-social-security-fairness-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7935040630400181, "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"}