By: Huffman  S.C.R. No. 28          (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2023; March 16, 2023, read   first time and referred to Committee on Finance; March 23, 2023,   reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 17, Nays 0;   March 23, 2023, sent to printer.)Click here to see the committee vote     SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION     WHEREAS, Social Security is the foundation for retirement for   tens of millions of American workers and their families, with many   reporting that they rely on the program as their sole source of   income; and          WHEREAS, Two Social Security provisions, however, the   Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, and the Windfall   Elimination Provision (WEP), enacted in 1983, severely and unfairly   penalize recipients of public pensions; and          WHEREAS, The GPO effectively prohibits some government   retirees from collecting both their own pension and full Social   Security benefits as a surviving spouse; nearly three-quarters of   beneficiaries affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal   benefit, even though their spouses paid Social Security taxes for   many years; and          WHEREAS, The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit for   public employees who did not participate in Social Security while   working for the government, but who at some time in their careers   were in jobs where they paid Social Security taxes for the period   required to qualify for retirement benefits; the WEP can deprive a   retiree of more than $500 a month in Social Security benefits duly   earned by that individual; and          WHEREAS, Although these provisions were intended to curtail   the payment of windfall benefits to highly paid government   employees, in practice they have had and continue to have   devastating consequences for low-income employees who worked for   many years as public servants; as of December 2018, more than two   million government employees and retirees had been affected by   either the GPO or the WEP or both, and the repercussions have been   felt most acutely in Texas and 14 other states where a high   proportion of public employees participate in state or municipal   retirement systems that do not include Social Security; and          WHEREAS, These punitive and discriminatory provisions target   hundreds of thousands of teachers, police officers, firefighters,   and other public servants; although the vast majority of Texas   school employees participate in the state's teacher retirement   system, and therefore are not required to and do not participate in   the Social Security system, many Texas teachers and other public   school employees nonetheless have earned Social Security benefits   on their own behalf through other employment, the WEP   notwithstanding, or would be entitled to spousal Social Security   benefits based on their spouses' lifetime earnings were it not for   the GPO penalty; these provisions cause veteran teachers to retire   prematurely and discourage qualified individuals from entering the   teaching profession at precisely the time that Texas and the nation   face a severe shortage of highly qualified educators; and          WHEREAS, The GPO and WEP as applied to public employees are   unreasonable and unjust and will cause tens of thousands of   government retirees to experience a diminished quality of life or   be forced to return to work to make up for the effects of these   provisions; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to   repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination   Provision of the Social Security Act; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official   copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to   the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of   Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the   members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that   this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record   as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.     * * * * *