00Enrolled HJR 18                                                                                                         
01 Urging the United States Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and                                      
02 Government Pension Offset of the Social Security Act.                                                                   
03                                         _______________                                                                 
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
05      WHEREAS many public employees, while employed by the state or a political                                          
06 subdivision of the state that participates in the Public Employees' Retirement System of                                
07 Alaska, do not participate in Social Security; and                                                                      
08      WHEREAS teachers, while employed by a school district that participates in the                                     
09 Teachers' Retirement System of Alaska, are ineligible by law to earn Social Security credits;                           
10 and                                                                                                                     
11      WHEREAS provisions of the Social Security Act known as the Windfall Elimination                                    
12 Provision and the Government Pension Offset reduce the amount of Social Security benefits                               
13 public employees and teachers might otherwise receive if they qualify for Social Security                               
14 benefits; and                                                                                                           
15      WHEREAS the Windfall Elimination Provision substantially reduces Social Security                                   
16 benefits earned by public employees and teachers; and                                                                   
17      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, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.