Ohio House Agrees, WEP, GPO Needs to be Repealed

COLUMBUS – The Ohio House stood together in voting in favor of legislation brought forth by State Representative Angie King (R-Celina) urging Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset to give public servants that pay into Social Security their full benefits upon retirement.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was enacted in 1983 as a modified benefits program for employees who receive a pension for their public service. Under the WEP, public employees can have their Social Security earning potential lowered by up to 50% due to also earning a public pension. 

“These public servants are paying into social security at the same rate as someone that isn’t working for the state,” said King. “To take away their social security because of their public service diminishes their rightfully earned benefits and penalizes them for their service to Ohio. The WEP program is flawed and must be repealed so we do not hurt the retirement capability of Ohioans.”

There are currently more than 1.7 million people in the Ohio Public Retirement System that are affected by WEP.

The legislation will now head to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.