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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Social security is the foundation for retirement |
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income for millions of American workers and their families; |
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two-thirds of those older or disabled Americans who receive program |
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benefits rely on social security for 50 percent or more of their |
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total income, one-third rely on it for 90 percent or more, and for |
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21 percent it is their only source of income; and |
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WHEREAS, The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall |
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Elimination Provision (WEP), social security provisions enacted in |
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1977 and 1983, respectively, severely and unfairly penalize |
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recipients of public pensions; and |
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WHEREAS, The GPO effectively eliminates or reduces the social |
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security benefit for spouses, widows, or widowers who also receive |
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a pension based on their own work for federal, state, or local |
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government entities not covered by social security; an estimated 9 |
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out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lose their entire |
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spousal benefit, even though their deceased spouses paid social |
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security taxes for many years; and |
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WHEREAS, The WEP reduces the social security benefit for |
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public employees who held positions not covered by social security |
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but who at some time in their careers were also employed in jobs |
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where they paid social security taxes for the period required to |
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qualify for retirement benefits; in some cases, those years in |
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public sector jobs amount to more than half of the worker's career; |
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the WEP can deprive a retiree of more than $300 a month in social |
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security benefits duly earned by that individual; and |
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WHEREAS, The GPO and WEP currently affect more than 900,000 |
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government employees and retirees residing in virtually every |
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state, but their effect is more acute in Texas and 14 other states |
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where most public employees participate in state or municipal |
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retirement systems that do not include social security; the |
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harshest impact falls on low-income women, causing many to live |
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near, or even below, the poverty level; the cumulative loss of |
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benefits as a result of these penalties over the next ten years has |
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been projected by the Congressional Budget Office to exceed $60 |
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billion; and |
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WHEREAS, These punitive and discriminatory provisions target |
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hundreds of thousands of teachers, police officers, firefighters, |
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and other public servants because they apply only to recipients of |
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public pensions; recipients of private-sector pension benefits are |
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not subject to the same penalty; and |
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WHEREAS, Although these provisions were intended to curtail |
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the payment of windfall benefits to highly paid government |
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employees, in practice they have had and continue to have |
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devastating consequences for low-income employees who worked for |
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many years as public servants; the GPO and WEP as applied to this |
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group is unreasonable and unjust and will cause tens of thousands of |
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retired government employees to live out their retirement years in |
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poverty or be forced to return to work to make up for the effects of |
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these provisions; and |
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WHEREAS, Public school employees are especially affected by |
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these provisions; although the vast majority of Texas school |
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employees participate in the state's teacher retirement system and |
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therefore are not required to and do not participate in the social |
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security system, many Texas teachers and other public school |
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employees nonetheless have earned social security benefits on their |
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own behalf through other employment, the WEP notwithstanding, or |
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would be entitled to spousal social security benefits based on |
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their spouses' lifetime earnings were it not for the GPO penalty; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Because of their adverse effect on the pensions of |
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teachers, these provisions cause veteran teachers to retire |
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prematurely and discourage qualified individuals from entering the |
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teaching profession at precisely the time that Texas and the nation |
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face a severe shortage of highly qualified educators; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to |
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repeal the Government Pension Offset provision and the Windfall |
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Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the |
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Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this |
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resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |