Thousands of retirees in Connecticut should start seeing an increase in their monthly Social Security checks next month, with the implementation of a new law to address the way payments were calculated for certain public service workers.
Two longtime provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — reduced, and in some cases eliminated, payments because those beneficiaries also collected a pension from jobs that were not covered by Social Security.
They were repealed under the Social Security Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill Congress passed in the final hours of the last session and former President Joe Biden signed into law in early January. With both gone, it will increase benefits for more than 3 million people nationwide, including some back pay and adjustments to future checks.
Those who were affected by WEP and GPO included teachers, police officers, firefighters and government employees who received pensions from work that did not pay Social Security payroll taxes. But the U.S. Social Security Administration noted that almost three quarters of state and local public employees worked in places that collected Social Security, and because of that, they will not see increases in their benefits.
In late February, the Social Security Administration said it started to deliver back pay sooner than anticipated.
More than 26,000 people in Connecticut will get a lump sum of benefits dating back to January 2024. The average retroactive benefit in Connecticut is about $7,500, totaling around $196 million. The law applied it to benefits payable after December 2023.
Those who are eligible should receive the one-time payment, which will go directly into the bank account on file, by the end of March.
The Social Security Administration said those retirees should also see a bump in their monthly payments starting in April. That will apply to their March benefits, which are paid one month behind.
Those increases will vary greatly for beneficiaries. Some will only see a small increase, while others could receive up to $1,000 more a month, according to SSA. Since late February, the federal agency said it has processed about 75% of adjustments related to the Social Security Fairness Act.
“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” Acting SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek said in a statement from late February. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”
The Windfall Elimination Provision reduced how much beneficiaries receive from Social Security if they also get pensions or disability benefits from uncovered work. It applied to those who paid Social Security taxes on less than 30 years of substantial earnings, which is currently set at $31,275 in 2024.
WEP affected more than 22,000 beneficiaries in Connecticut, with the vast majority of them retired workers, according to December 2023 estimates from the Congressional Research Service. Connecticut was one of 15 states where WEP applied to teachers.
The Government Pension Offset cut Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of the non-covered pension from local, state or federal government employment. For some who received a teacher’s pension, the cuts were larger than their spousal benefits, so they essentially received nothing through Social Security.
Those affected by the decrease in their benefits argued it unfairly affected many who have worked in public service, like teachers, police officers and firefighters, as well as survivor benefits for those who served in government positions.
Support for repealing WEP and GPO brought together a range of coalitions, including lawmakers in both parties as well as unions representing industries like education, law enforcement, government employees and other public workers. As momentum grew for the bill in the final weeks of the Biden administration, Donald Trump also said he supported the bill ahead of his return to the White House.
A number of labor unions across industries were at the forefront of the years-long push to repeal the provisions. Groups like the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans and the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut for Congress to take it up last year.
But critics had raised concerns because there was no offset to pay for the repeal, and it would speed up the projected timeline of Social Security becoming insolvent, though both sides have acknowledged Congress will need to deal with larger reforms to the program for its long-term financial health.
Critics included U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, because the law did not include an offset similar to that in his own Social Security reform bill, which seeks to temporarily remove those provisions. His own bill would fund the repeal of WEP and GPO through raising the income cap on taxable earnings for Social Security.
The Congressional Budget Office projected that the repeal of both provisions would cost nearly $196 billion over the next decade. Others warned against ending WEP and GPO without an offset, arguing that it will be a drain on the Social Security Trust Fund.
Current estimates show the Trust Fund for old age and survivors insurance will be able to pay 100% of Social Security benefits through 2033. After that, it could result in people receiving reduced benefits, amounting to about a 20% cut.
About 708,000 people in Connecticut — about 20% of the state’s population — receive benefits, according to December 2022 data from the U.S. Social Security Administration. More than three quarters are retired workers, while about 10% are receiving disability income. And some of those recipients are children and people receiving survivor benefits from deceased spouses or family members.
While paycheck adjustments are happening on an expedited timeline, other changes pushed by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE could pose challenges for beneficiaries of Social Security.
The Social Security Administration said it plans to cut 12% of its workforce with the possibility of more through a reduction in force, in addition to the consolidation of its 10 regional offices down to four regions.
And starting on March 31, recipients will need to either verify their identity in person or online and can no longer do it over the phone. Trump’s SSA said the change will help prevent fraud. But critics argue it will hurt seniors and disabled Americans who rely on that process when making claims or signing up for benefits.
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