00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(STA) 01 Urging the United States Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and 02 Government Pension Offset of the Social Security Act. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS many public employees, while employed by the state or a political 05 subdivision of the state that participates in the Public Employees' Retirement System of 06 Alaska, do not participate in Social Security; and 07 WHEREAS teachers, while employed by a school district that participates in the 08 Teachers' Retirement System of Alaska, are ineligible by law to earn Social Security credits; 09 and 10 WHEREAS provisions of the Social Security Act known as the Windfall Elimination 11 Provision and the Government Pension Offset reduce the amount of Social Security benefits 12 public employees and teachers might otherwise receive if they qualify for Social Security 13 benefits; and 14 WHEREAS the Windfall Elimination Provision substantially reduces Social Security 15 benefits earned by public employees and teachers; and 16 WHEREAS, in 2023, a Social Security benefit reduction by the Windfall Elimination 01 Provision may be as much as $558 a month for each recipient; and 02 WHEREAS the Government Pension Offset reduces Social Security spousal and 03 survivor benefits for recipients of Social Security spousal or survivor benefits who also 04 receive a benefit from a public employees' or teachers' retirement system; and 05 WHEREAS the Government Pension Offset may reduce the Social Security monthly 06 benefit payment, for a current or former public employee or teacher who is eligible to receive 07 a benefit, by an amount equal to two-thirds of the amount the public employee or teacher 08 receives from a public employees' or teachers' retirement system each month; and 09 WHEREAS nothing in the relationship between the Public Employees' Retirement 10 System of Alaska, the Teachers' Retirement System of Alaska, or similar public employees' or 11 teachers' retirement systems and Social Security legally or financially justifies a policy of 12 reducing the amount of Social Security benefits earned by public employees or teachers for 13 military service, including civilian military service, or time worked in the private sector; and 14 WHEREAS the lowest-earning public employees and teachers are disproportionately 15 and negatively affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension 16 Offset; and 17 WHEREAS the state has adopted defined contribution retirement systems for all 18 public employees hired after 2006 and, with 11.7 percent of all beneficiaries and 15.2 percent 19 of all retired workers affected, has the highest percentage of beneficiaries affected by the 20 Windfall Elimination Provision of any other state or territory in the United States; and 21 WHEREAS public employees and teachers who reside in the state are 22 disproportionately and more negatively affected, per capita, by the Windfall Elimination 23 Provision and the Government Pension Offset than public employees and teachers who reside 24 in any other state or territory in the United States; and 25 WHEREAS persons who are eligible to earn Social Security credits for work in the 26 private sector or in active or civilian military service are deterred from becoming public 27 employees or teachers by the negative effects of the Windfall Elimination Provision and the 28 Government Pension Offset; and 29 WHEREAS the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset 30 impair the ability of state and local governments to recruit and retain public school teachers, 31 police officers, firefighters, and other public employees; and 01 WHEREAS bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the 118th United States 02 Congress to address the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset; 03 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 04 Congress to pass legislation eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government 05 Pension Offset. 06 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 07 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 08 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Xavier Becerra, United States Secretary of Health 09 and Human Services; the Honorable Miguel Cardona, United States Secretary of Education; 10 the Honorable Martin O'Malley, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; and the 11 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 12 Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. Representative for Alaska, members of the Alaska delegation in 13 Congress.