Government affairs

Today, the discharge petition for the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) reached 218 signers, an important step to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote.

The milestone comes on the same day NALC participated in a press conference on Capitol Hill to raise awareness about the issue. NALC President Brian L. Renfroe spoke at the event which was cohosted by the leads of the bill, Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Garrett Graves (R-LA).

While the discharge petition is closed after reaching 218 signatures, members can still cosponsor the bill. H.R. 82 is now the most cosponsored bill in Congress, with 327 cosponsors.

Now, the petition will sit on the House calendar for seven legislative days. Tomorrow, Sept. 20, will count as the first legislative day. After that period, Spanberger and Graves, the filers of the discharge petition, can request a full House vote. According to House rules, after that request, a vote will be scheduled within two legislative days. 

With much in flux next week, including the House’s schedule and efforts to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government, it is unclear when the two lawmakers will choose to call for a vote after the allotted time. 

NALC will continue closely monitoring this legislation and will inform members when it is called for a vote.

More on the Social Security Fairness Act

H.R. 82/S. 597 would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce or sometimes eliminate Social Security benefits of federal annuitants, including letter carriers. 

Click here for NALC’s fact sheet.