“When will the Social Security Fairness Act go into effect?
Once signed into law, the legislation’s effective date involves Social Security payments for months after December 2023, according to the text of the bill. Still, calculating what folks are due, not to mention retroactive payments, may not be simple or quick.
“The Social Security Administration is awaiting the possible final enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act into law and rules for implementation. We will provide more information on our website, ssa.gov as it becomes available,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The new law would come at a time when the Social Security Administration is operating with its lowest staffing level in more than 50 years, or since 1972, with a hiring freeze recently put in place, a spokesperson noted. Congress rejected the White House budget office’s request to increase its funding, first in September and again last week, leaving it flat.”
from CalRTA
Now What?
President Biden is scheduled to sign Social Security Fairness into law Monday morning, January 6th, at 10:00 AM. He will be accompanied by many of those who have worked for years to right the wrongs of the GPO and WEP. We will have a link to the video when it is published.
How do we make sure we get our money?
It depends on your status with the Social Security Administration.
If you are already receiving your own Social Security benefits that are reduced because of the WEP, they have all your information, and after they make some decisions about how to proceed, you will hear from them.
If you are receiving only partial benefits because of the GPO, Social Security is aware of your status and should change your award as the process moves on.
If you have applied for spousal or survivor benefits and are receiving nothing because of the GPO, Social Security has your information and should inform you of your change in status and the change in your award as their process develops.
The bottom line here is that recalculating Social Security benefits will be a complex process, and communicating with the Social Security Administration by phone is likely to be a daunting and fruitless process. We must wait!
Here are two exceptions: Contact Social Security at http://www.ssa.gov
If you know that Social Security does not have your current address or marital status.
If you have never applied for benefits, and you are a qualified spouse, divorced spouse, or a widow/widower of a Social Security beneficiary, you need to apply for spousal or survivor’s benefits now to insure that the Social Security Administration is aware that you may be newly eligible. These benefits are all paid on your spouse’s record, which might not be cross-referenced to your record in the Social Security files.
Also, check with other retirees who might be unaware that they could be getting spousal or survivor benefits.
Social Security knows there are thousands of elderly retirees whose past marriages qualify them for these benefits but who haven’t applied for them.
Some never applied because they knew they would get nothing. Others did not know about the program. Seniors who paid into Social Security before becoming citizens might also qualify.
Please help find these retirees, and help them get the benefits they deserve!
We want Social Security Fairness for all!
Thank you for helping us get there!
As I have said, I am but a small fish in a very big advocacy pond., John A. Pernorio