- TRTA is calling on our entire Texas congressional delegation to support HR 5834, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2021
- miembros de la ATRC, please click here to send an urgent email action alert to your Representative today!
The Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) is leading with our national partners to reform and end the unfair Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) supports TRTA efforts and has introduced a new bill to replace the unfair and arbitrary WEP formula with a new proportional formula that puts public servants and other American workers on equal footing.
El Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2021, HR 5834, makes sure that teachers, firefighters, and police officers will receive a Social Security benefit that reflects their actual work history. The bill also provides critical relief to retired public servants who are affected by the WEP.
Use our Action Alert to support WEP reform!
TRTA Big Picture
As TRTA members may recall, Representative Brady has worked on this issue tirelessly for many years and is once again filing a bill to help Texas retired public education retirees, as well as all public workers impacted by the WEP. Brady’s bill would replace the WEP with a new proportional formula that reflects actual work history.
The Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2021 would provide immediate financial relief to retirees currently impacted by the WEP. Future retirees will also see the WEP reduced! Any increase in retirees’ fixed incomes greatly bolsters their retirement security! TRTA and its retired and active members encourage full congressional support of HR 5834.
Why It Matters
Ninety-five percent of school employees in Texas are not fully covered by Social Security, and most are impacted negatively by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Forty percent of TRTA’s members report being negatively impacted by the current unfair WEP formula.
On average, TRTA members report the WEP reduces their monthly income by approximately $400.
With an average monthly annuity of $2,100, TRS Texas annuitants already struggle financially to meet today’s growing costs.
HR 5834 PERMANENTLY REPEALS THE CURRENT WEP AND REPLACES IT WITH A NEW, FAIRER FORMULA THAT TREATS PUBLIC SERVANTS LIKE THE REST OF AMERICAN WORKERS.
Get Involved and What’s Next
As you very likely agree, Congress is simply not doing enough to solve this issue. TRTA is grateful that various bills have been filed by congressional members to consider WEP reform. Filing bills, though, is NOT solving the problem. It is a start, but we need to get traction on passing something that is meaningful, bipartisan, and can be done now!
TRTA is calling on our entire Texas Congressional delegation to support HR 5834. Having an entire state united on HR 5834 will send a strong message to the House Ways and Means Committee that we can all work together and fix this issue. The people hurt by WEP are tired of losing thousands of dollars every year to this unfair provision, and future retirees will face the same fate if we do not solve this problem.
Only with a strong and united group will we be able to fix WEP today and continue to put pressure on Congress to fix the to the other Social Security issue TRTA wants solved, the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Please contact your congressman today and ask them to join as a cosponsor on HR 5834!
