Social Security Fairness Act: Who is eligible, and what will be the stimulus amount?
The Social Security Fairness Act is primarily about repealing provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits
The Social Security Fairness Act has seen some recent changes, including providing retroactive benefits and increasing monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025. According to the SSA's official site, this law increases Social Security benefits for certain types of workers, including:
- teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states;
- federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and
- people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system.
This act does away with the windfall programme which reduced the Social Security benefits for those who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security, especially because they did not pay Social Security taxes.
Does this mean all police and firefighters in the US will receive extra benefits?
It is not necessary that every teacher or firefighter in the United States will receive added benefits because of the new law signed into effect. Only people who receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security may see benefit increases.
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Those who already pay Social Security taxes did not fall under the purview of WEP and GPO, which means they received intact Social Security benefits. This comprises of nearly 72% of state and local public employees, according to SSA.
How much monthly benefit will retirees receive?
There could be a major variation between the Social Security benefits based on this new law. For some, the benefits could just be a few hundred dollars each month. However, for others, it could even touch a whopping $1,000 a month, depending on the type of Social Security benefit received.
