The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on Jan. 5 of this year. Nationwide, about 3 million public-sector retirees will receive substantially higher Social Security benefits due to the law’s repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

WEP-affected individuals will see benefits increase by $360 a month on average; the figure for GPO-affected individuals is $950 a month. The legislation is projected to cost about $200 billion over 10 years.

About 30,000 individuals in Maine (21,000 WEP cases and 8,200 GPO cases) will receive higher benefits due to the new law.

All members of Maine’s congressional delegation supported the Fairness Act and celebrated its passage. Rep. Chellie Pingree called the legislation “game-changing.” Sen. Susan Collins touted her attendance at the bill’s signing ceremony at the White House.

Sen. Collins wrote to the Social Security Administration (SSA) calling on the agency to implement the new law “swiftly.” In reality, because of budget cuts to SSA and the unusual legislative process that produced the law, it will be difficult for the agency to implement.

The bill that was enacted (H.R. 82) was introduced in January 2023 by Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana, with an effective date of January 2024. Congress failed to move the bill or even do basic committee work on it. The Senate did not vote on the bill until nearly two years after its introduction. By that time, the effective date was in the past and the new law needed to be implemented retroactively.

Because Congress was unclear on some details, SSA is going to have to figure out who should and who should not get large retroactive payments. To illustrate just one contentious issue, consider two nearly identical individuals: 1) a widow who applied for Social Security in the past and who had her benefit reduced to $0 because of the GPO and 2) a widow who did not bother applying in the past because she was told the benefit would be $0. The widow who applied in the past will get a large retroactive payment. The second widow must now contact SSA. She may get benefits going forward, but SSA may determine she cannot get the full retroactive payments for 2024.

Other issues with the retroactive period are likely to surface. Based on overall mortality data for beneficiaries, it is likely about 4% of WEP- or GPO-affected individuals (110,000 people nationally) died in the retroactive period. SSA will likely conclude that benefits are now due or payable for these deceased individuals. The agency has procedures for distributing underpayments to survivors or estates, but documentation requirements and payment processes will make administering these 110,000 cases difficult.

There will be other administrative challenges, particularly regarding GPO cases. Nationally, there are over 500,000 individuals who have had benefits fully offset for many years. While these individuals are in SSA’s record system, their address information may not be current and accurate direct deposit information may be, very frequently, missing. SSA will struggle to process missing data cases and will be overwhelmed by new spouse and widow(er) applications from individuals who can now receive payments.

The Windfall Elimination Provision cases may be the easiest cases for SSA to implement. The agency will likely try to reprogram its computer systems to automate back payments to this group. SSA’s automation routines are effective, but a small percentage of complex cases always require manual processing. There are about 2.1 million WEP cases nationally and, even if the automation routines have a 95% success rate, there will be over 100,000 cases requiring time-consuming manual inputs.

At the same time Congress was considering the Fairness Act, it was also considering legislation to fund federal agencies. Congress provided no funds to implement the Fairness Act. Further, Congress has reduced staffing at SSA to a 50-year low.

Public-sector retirees can take practical steps to improve the difficult implementation process.

First, individuals affected by the law should ensure that SSA has current address and direct deposit information. Second, individuals who did not file for Social Security because of the GPO should schedule an appointment with SSA to discuss filing. Third, individuals who have complex cases should use the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121, to contact House and Senate offices for help. All congressional offices have constituent services and can help resolve issues with Social Security benefits.