Representative Sharice Davids voted in favor of the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, a bill aimed at repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), two outdated rules that have reduced Social Security benefits for millions of public sector retirees, such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers. The bill passed with support from 191 Democrats and 136 Republicans.

Originally designed to prevent “double-dipping,” the WEP and GPO have had unintended effects, lowering benefits for public servants receiving separate pensions. The WEP affects about two million beneficiaries, while the GPO impacts nearly 800,000 retirees. The WEP reduces benefits for those with public pensions not covered by Social Security, such as educators working part-time in jobs covered by Social Security. The GPO reduces spousal benefits for government employees whose jobs aren’t covered by Social Security, cutting surviving spouses’ benefits by two-thirds.

Despite threats to Social Security, Davids works across party lines to protect the program for Kansans. She secured over $20 million in recovered payments, including backlogged Social Security benefits, and fought to prevent a government shutdown that would have delayed payments for over 610,000 Kansans.

“Kansas teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and public servants have dedicated their lives to serving our communities, and they deserve to retire with the full benefits they’ve earned and paid into,” said Davids. “This legislation would end unfair reductions and build on my ongoing efforts to protect and strengthen Social Security for all Kansans.”