Syracuse Sun

Congressman Brandon Williams (NY-22) has signed Discharge Petition #16, which will compel the House of Representatives to hold a floor vote on H.R. 82, known as the Social Security Fairness Act. This legislation was introduced by Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). The bill aims to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), both of which have been in effect for forty years.

Rep. Williams, who is already a cosponsor of the bill, made his decision public this morning when he signed the Discharge Petition. In a statement, he explained his reasoning:

“I came into office as a political outsider who believes in common sense solutions to our most pressing issues and that means standing up against my own party when it is for the betterment of Central New York and our working families. For over four decades, our nation’s police officers, firefighters, teachers, and many others have been negatively impacted by the WEP and GPO. They paid into this system for their entire lives—they must not be penalized for doing the right thing. We owe it to our constituents to place the Social Security Fairness Act on the President’s desk, and this Discharge Petition will give us an opportunity to do so before the end of this year.”

The full text of the Social Security Fairness Act is available online.

The bill has garnered support from various groups including:

- American Federation of Teachers

- National Education Association

- The Fraternal Order of Police

- National Association of Police Organizations

- International Association of Fire Fighters

- The Senior Citizens League

- National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association

- American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

- National Association of County Office Employees

- National Treasury Employees Union

- Federal Managers Association

- Alliance for Retired Americans

- National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association

- National Association of Letter Carriers

- American Postal Workers Union

- American Federation of Government Employees

- National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare

- National Postal Mail Handlers Union

- Society of Former Special Agents