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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 and the windfall elimination 2
provision. 3
WHEREAS, the Social Security Act includes two provisions, the government 4
pension offset and the windfall elimination provision, that reduce Social Security benefits 5
payable to persons who are entitled to benefits from noncovered retirement systems under 6
certain conditions; and 7
WHEREAS, the government pension offset reduces public employees' Social 8
Security spousal or survival benefits by up to two-thirds of their public pension; and 9
WHEREAS, the windfall elimination provision reduces the earned Social Security 10
benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a position not covered 11
by Social Security; and 12
WHEREAS, the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision 13
have inequitable effects on many teachers, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, 14
and others who have struggled their entire working careers to supplement family budgets 15
and retirement savings with part-time and summer jobs in which they paid into Social 16
Security; and 17
WHEREAS, the Congressional Research Service released data in December 2021 18
showing the government pension offset disproportionately affects women, who accounted 19
for 83 percent of all persons affected; and 20
WHEREAS, as of December 2022, almost 81 percent of Kentuckians affected by 21
the government pension offset lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their spouses 22
paid Social Security taxes for many years; and 23
WHEREAS, the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision 24
impact the teaching profession, as individuals who worked in other careers are less likely 25
to desire to become educators if doing so will result in the loss of earned Social Security 26
benefits; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1487
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WHEREAS, the government pension offset has the severest effect on widowed 1
lower-income women who have worked for years and can least afford reduced benefits; 2
and 3
WHEREAS, the amounts lost due to the government pension offset and the 4
windfall elimination provision can make the difference between self-sufficiency and 5
poverty; and 6
WHEREAS, Kentucky is one of the 20 states most impacted by the government 7
pension offset and the windfall elimination provision; and 8
WHEREAS, bipartisan legislation concerning the repeal of the government pension 9
offset and the windfall elimination provision was introduced in the 118th Congress; 10
NOW, THEREFORE, 11
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the 12
Commonwealth of Kentucky: 13
Section 1. This honorable body respectfully urges the United States Congress to 14
amend Title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the government pension offset and the 15
windfall elimination provision. 16
Section 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit a 17
copy of this Resolution to the President of the United States and the members of the 18
Kentucky Congressional Delegation. 19