WASHINGTON — By signing largely bipartisan legislation that Congress adopted late last year, President Joe Biden has increased the benefits that more than 2 million Americans get from Social Security.
With Congress now controlled by Republicans and Biden’s term ending on January 20 when President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office, Sunday’s ceremony was one of the final times he is likely to sign significant legislation as president.
Biden stated that he was signing this bill to extend Social Security payments for millions of public employees, including teachers, as well as their spouses and survivors. That’s an increase of about $360 a month on average. That is significant.
He claimed that in order to make up for the lack of benefits they should have received in 2024, the approximately 2.5 million persons covered by the new law would get a lump sum payment of thousands of dollars.
The bill was passed by the House 327-75 in November and sent to Biden by the Senate 76-20 in December.
The windfall elimination clause and government pension offset, which for decades had decreased the amount of Social Security benefits received by certain Americans, are repealed by the new law.
In a written statement, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who was present at the White House signing ceremony, expressed her satisfaction that these unjust features in our Social Security system have now been eliminated.
For thousands of educators, first responders, public servants, and the many advocates who battled for years to address this injustice, Collins wrote, this is a victory. Retirees and their spouses have been denied Social Security benefits for far too long by the WEP and GPO, despite years of hard labor and systemic contributions. This law guarantees that one’s earned retirement benefits will no longer be sacrificed for public service.
On social media, former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who decided to run for governor of Virginia instead of reelection to Congress, said that the removal of the two clauses had long been anticipated.
Spanberger, who co-sponsored the House version of the bill last Congress, added, “Our retired police officers, firefighters, teachers, and public employees worked for DECADES to right this wrong.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the benefits expansion will cost $195.65 billion over the next ten years and advance the program’s insolvency date by roughly six months.
In a letter to Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, CBO Director Phillip L. Swagel projected that if H.R. 82 were to be passed, the remaining funds of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund would be depleted about six months sooner than they would be under the existing legislation. According to the organization, the remaining OASI trust fund would run out in fiscal year 2033 under the existing legislation.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, Minnesota Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Ohio Republican Representative Mike Carey, Louisiana Democratic Representative Troy Carter, Louisiana Republican Representatives Clay Higgins and Julia Letlow, Ohio Democratic Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Greg Landsman, and Virginia Democratic Representative Bobby Scott were among the other members of Congress who attended the signing ceremony, according to a list provided by the White House.
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