Schatz votes to pass bipartisan bill to provide full Social Security benefits to 100,000+ public sector workers in Hawai‘i

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) voted to pass bipartisan legislation to ensure public sector workers nationwide – including more than 100,000 in Hawai‘i – receive their full Social Security benefits.

The Social Security Fairness Act, which Schatz cosponsored, repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset from the Social Security Act which have significantly reduced benefits for public workers.

The vote was taken on Friday and the bill now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“There’s no reason teachers, firefighters, and government workers should get anything less than the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned, and this bill finally ensures that,” said Schatz. “We should be rewarding public servants – not penalizing them – and I thank Senators Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins for their leadership to get these workers the benefits they deserve.”

The Windfall Elimination Provision 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 Government Pension Offset reduces Social Security spousal or widow’s benefits by two-thirds of the pension that the individual would receive from non-covered government employment.