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A RESOLUTION urging the United States Congress to amend Title II of the Social 1
Security Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset Provision and the Windfall 2
Elimination Provision. 3
WHEREAS, the Social Security Act includes the Government Pension Offset 4
Provision and the Windfall Elimination Provision, which reduce the Social Security 5
benefits payable to persons who are entitled to benefits under other retirement systems 6
under certain conditions; and 7
WHEREAS, the Government Pension Offset Provision reduces public employees' 8
Social Security spousal or survival benefits by up to two-thirds of their public pensions; 9
and 10
WHEREAS, the Windfall Elimination Provision reduces the earned Social Security 11
benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by 12
Social Security; and 13
WHEREAS, the Government Pension Offset Provision and the Windfall 14
Elimination Provision have inequitable effects on many teachers, firefighters, police, 15
postal workers, and others who have struggled their entire working careers to supplement 16
family budgets and retirement savings with part-time and summer jobs where they paid 17
into Social Security; and 18
WHEREAS, the Congressional Research Service released data in December 2021 19
showing that the Government Pension Offset Provision disproportionately affects women, 20
who accounted for 83 percent all persons affected by the provision; and 21
WHEREAS, 82 percent of all Kentuckians affected by the Government Pension 22
Offset Provision lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouses paid Social 23
Security taxes for many years; and 24
WHEREAS, the Government Pension Offset Provision and the Windfall 25
Elimination Provision impact the teaching profession, as individuals who worked in other 26
careers are less likely to desire to become educators if doing so will result in the loss of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 370
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earned Social Security benefits; and 1
WHEREAS, the Government Pension Offset Provision has the severest effect on 2
widowed lower-income women, who have worked for years and can least afford reduced 3
benefits; and 4
WHEREAS, the amounts lost due to the Government Pension Offset Provision and 5
the Windfall Elimination Provision can make the difference between self-sufficiency and 6
poverty; and 7
WHEREAS, Kentucky is one of the 20 states most impacted by the Government 8
Pension Offset Provision and the Windfall Elimination Provision; and 9
WHEREAS, bipartisan legislation concerning the repeal of the Government Pension 10
Offset Provision and the Windfall Elimination Provision was introduced in the 117th 11
Congress; 12
NOW, THEREFORE, 13
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the 14
Commonwealth of Kentucky: 15
Section 1. This honorable body respectfully urges the United States Congress to 16
amend Title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset 17
Provision and the Windfall Elimination Provision. 18
Section 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit a 19
copy of this Resolution to the President of the United States and the members of the 20
Kentucky Congressional Delegation. 21