URGENT: Updated Messages for H.R. 82

Dear LRTA Members,

The movement to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision/Government Pension Offset (WEP/GPO) has been going on for decades, and this current session has seen the most progress towards doing so than ever before. LRTA has played an active role working with our own Representatives Garrett Graves and Julia Letlow, and Senator Bill Cassidy as well as with State Representative Mike Johnson. We are also involved in weekly planning meetings and strategizing with the National WEP/GPO Repeal Task Force.

We are nearing the end of this current Congressional legislative session and WE ARE NOT giving up. We are encouraging you to continue to take part in this effort by participating in the following activities. Below you will find the three-step plan the task force is proposing as well as the appropriate action to take for each step.

In addition, if you haven’t done so, please check out the website: ssfairness.org and the National WEP & GPO Repeal Movement Facebook page for more information. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.

Sincerely,
Janis Hernandez (janishernandez@hotmail.com)
Legislative Chairperson

We feel these methods are the best means to still get the repeal bills passed.

THE UPDATED PLAN

1. We will ask House leaders to place H.R. 82 (House) and S. 1302 (Senate) in their end-of-year omnibus bills. (An omnibus bill is a hefty bill covering diverse topics, often used to clump a range of appropriations bills into a single bill that must pass before the session is over. Also, many smaller appropriations bills do not move forward as a fiscal year (FY) ends, which is the case for this year. Correspondingly, the FY 2023 budget must be finalized very soon; thus, this will transpire during the lame-duck session.)

2. We will ask Ways & Means Committee members to sign the H.R. 82 Discharge Petition and help move the bill to the House omnibus end-of-year spending/consolidation bill.

3. We will also ask Senate Committee on Finance members to cosponsor S. 1302 and move the bill to the Senate omnibus end-of-year spending/consolidation bill.

Below you will find all the specific actions you should take to support our plans.

Instructions: Please copy and paste the body of the email message below, adding your name at the end. Send the corresponding email message to the email addresses listed for each step. Note: the email addresses listed are for the staffers/legislative directors of the members of Congress.

1. House Leaders: OMNIBUS BILL

Required Subject Header
Please place H.R. 82 on end-of-year omnibus bills.

Email Message

Honorable House Leaders,

I urge you to address the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These penalties have taken our earned Social Security and spousal benefits for 40 years. We need the leadership to encourage members to sign H. Res. 1367 and work with the Senate Finance Committee to put WEP and GPO repeal into an omnibus. A Discharge Petition was filed for H.R. 82 through a special rule, H. Res. 1367, to trigger a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021. We are counting on congressional leadership to act on the voice of the American people and 305 of their elected officials to bring repeal of the WEP and GPO to law.

The WEP and GPO are earned benefits that retirees have paid for. The WEP penalizes the earned benefits of public service workers by as much as 50%. Whereas the GPO eliminates the earned Social Security benefits of a surviving spouse who worked as an educator in 15 states.

The nation has been seeing an exodus of teachers that are either leaving the profession or retiring earlier than planned. The repeal of these two offsets is an important step to help to turn the tide in favor of teachers remaining in the classroom.

Now is the time to take action to repeal these two unjust penalties. As a leader and ask you who move this issue to the forefront by including H.R. 82 in an Omnibus bill.

Respectfully submitted,

Staffer Email List

dick.meltzer@mail.house.gov
Kara.getz@mail.house.gov
James.Leuschen@mail.house.gov
Willie.lyles@mail.house.gov
Zoe.Oreck@mail.house.gov
David.davis@mail.house.gov
Trevor.smith@mail.house.gov

2. House Ways and Means Committee: OMNIBUS BILL

Required Subject Header
Please place H.R. 82 on end-of-year omnibus bills

Email Message

Honorable Ways and Means Committee member,

I urge you to address the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These penalties have taken our earned Social Security and spousal benefits for 40 years. A Discharge Petition was filed for H.R. 82 through a special rule, H. Res. 1367, to trigger a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021.We need the members of the Ways and Means Committee member to help move repeal forward by signing H. Res. 1367 and work with the Senate Finance Committee to put WEP and GPO repeal into an omnibus. We are counting on our elected officials to act on the voice of the American people and 305 of their elected officials to bring a repeal of the WEP and GPO to law.

Now is the time to take action to repeal these two unjust penalties. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, we thank those of you who have co-sponsored H.R 82 and ask those of you who have not to please co-sponsor H.R 82 and move this issue to the forefront by including H.R. 82 in an Omnibus bill.

Respectfully submitted,

Staffer Email List

Kara.getz@mail.house.gov
Cody.willming@mail.house.gov
Ellen.hamilton@mail.house.gov
Mark.dennin@mail.house.gov
Ben.kan@mail.house.gov
Dylan.sodaro@mail.house.gov
Lyndsey.barnes@mail.house.gov
Jon.Bosworth@mail.house.gov
Rob.Nuttall@mail.house.gov
Chris.goldson@mail.house.gov
Philipp.clarke@mail.house.gov
Nicolas.oboyle@mail.house.gov
alex.stepahin@mail.house.gov
Adam.cissell@mail.house.gov
Rachel.harvey@mail.house.gov
Rachel.Kline@mail.house.gov
Luke.wallwork@mail.house.gov
Eliana.goodman@mail.house.gov
Theresa.chalhoub@mail.house.gov

3. Senate Finance Committee: OMNIBUS BILL

Required Subject Header
Please include S.1302 in the end-of-year omnibus bill.

Email Message

Honorable Senate Committee on Finance Members,

I am asking members of the Senate Finance Committee for your support to move S. 1302 – Social Security Fairness Act (Brown -OH, Collins-MA) forward by including in an omnibus during the lame duck session. This bi-partisan bill would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) penalties that financially harm millions of retirees across our great nation.

Now is the time to take action to repeal these two unjust penalties. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, we thank those of you who have co-sponsored S. 1302 and ask those of you who have not to please co-sponsor S. 1302 to move this issue to the forefront by including H.R. 82 in an Omnibus bill.

Respectfully submitted,

Staffer Email List

L auren_obrien@young.senate.gov
Sarah_peery@portman.senate.gov
Katie_hadji@cassidy.senate.gov
Sarah_seitz@lankford.senate.gov
Patrick_lehman@sasse.senate.gov
Molly_carpenter@crapo.senate.gov
Jeremy_hekhuis@brown.senate.gov
Sarah_Bittleman@wyden.senate.gov
Amy_friedman@bennet.senate.gov
Derek_miller@casey.senate.gov
Dave_Christie@hassan.senate.gov