[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 41 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2897-S2898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Snowe, Mr. 
        Dorgan, Ms. Collins, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
        Dodd, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Daschle):
  S. 611. A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to 
provide that the reduction in social security benefits which are 
required in the case of spouses and surviving spouses who are also 
receiving certain Government pensions shall be equal to the amount by 
which two-thirds of the total amount of the combined monthly benefit 
(before reduction) and monthly pension exceeds $1,200, adjusted for 
inflation; to the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about an issue that 
is very important to me, very important to my constituents in Maryland 
and very important to government workers and retirees across the 
Nation. I am reintroducing a bill to modify a cruel rule of government 
that is unfair and prevents current workers from enjoying the benefits 
of their hard work during retirement.
  Under current law, a Social Security spousal benefit is reduced or 
entirely eliminated if the surviving spouse is eligible for a pension 
from a local, State or Federal Government job that was not covered by 
Social Security. This policy is known as the Government Pension Offset.
  This is how the current law works. Consider a surviving spouse who 
retires from government service and receives a government pension of 
$600 a month. She also qualifies for a Social Security spousal benefit 
of $645 a month. Because of the Pension Offset law (which reduces her 
Social Security benefit by 2/3 of her government pension), her spousal 
benefit is reduced to $245 a month. So instead of $1245, she will 
receive only $845 a month. That is $400 a month less to pay the rent, 
purchase a prescription medication, or buy groceries. I think that is 
wrong.
  My bill does not repeal the government pension offset entirely, but 
it will allow retirees to keep more of what they deserve. It guarantees 
that those subject to the offset can keep at least $1200 a month in 
combined retirement income. With my modification, the 2/3 offset would 
apply only to the combined benefit that exceeds $1200 a month. So, in 
the example above, the surviving spouse would face only a $30 offset, 
allowing her to keep $1215 in monthly income.
  Unfortunately, the current law disproportionately affects women. 
Women are more likely to receive Social Security spousal benefits and 
to have worked in low-paying or short-term government positions while 
they were raising families. It is also true that women receive smaller 
government pensions because of their lower earnings, and rely on Social 
Security benefits to a greater degree. My modification will allow these 
women who have contributed years of important government service and 
family service to rely on a larger amount of retirement income.
  In the last Congress, the Senate unanimously voted for and passed 
H.R. 5, The Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1999. This 
legislation ensured that senior citizens who choose to work or who must 
work can earn income after retirement without losing a portion of their 
Social Security benefit. That law helps senior citizens who earn above 
$17,000 per year. In contrast, my bill specifically targets those with 
much lower retirement incomes, around $13,000 per year and less. I 
believe that we must work to ensure a safety net for all of our 
seniors, including those retired federal employees who every day are 
forced to make difficult choices between rent, food, and prescription 
drugs due to the drastic effects of the government pension offset.
  Why do we punish people who have committed a significant portion of 
their lives to government service? We are talking about workers who 
provide some of the most important services to our community, teachers, 
firefighters, and many others. Some have already retired. Others are 
currently working and looking forward to a deserved retirement. These 
individuals deserve better than the reduced monthly benefits that the 
Pension Offset currently requires.
  Government employees work hard in service to our Nation, and I work 
hard for them. I do not want to see them penalized simply because they 
have chosen to work in the public sector, rather than for a private 
employer, and often at lower salaries and sometimes fewer benefits. If 
a retired worker in the private sector received a pension, and also 
received a spousal Social Security benefit, they would not be subject 
to the Offset. I think we should be looking for ways to reward 
government service, not the other way around. I believe that people who 
work hard and play by the rules should not be penalized by arcane, 
legislative technicalities.
  Frankly, I would like to repeal the offset all together. But, I 
realize that budget considerations make that unlikely. As a compromise, 
I hope we can agree that retirees who have worked hard all their lives 
should not have this offset applied until their combined monthly 
benefit, both government pension and Social Security spousal benefit, 
exceeds $1,200.
  I also strongly believe that we should ensure that retirees buying 
power keeps up with the cost of living. That's why I have also included 
a provision in

[[Page S2898]]

this legislation to index the $1,200 amount to inflation so retirees 
will see their minimum benefits increase along with the cost of living.
  The Social Security Administration recently estimated that enacting 
the provisions contained in my bill will have a negligible long-term 
impact on the Social Security Trust Fund, about 0.005 percent of 
taxable payroll. Additionally, my bill is bipartisan and is strongly 
supported by CARE, the Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity with 43 
member organizations including the National Association of Retired 
Federal Employees, NARFE, the American Federation of Federal State 
County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, the National Education 
Association, NEA, and the National Treasury Employees Union, NTEU.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort and support my 
legislation to modify the Government Pension Offset.
                                 ______