Following the January 5, 2025, signing of the Social Security Fairness Act, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) are repealed, effective January 2024. Affected retirees will receive full Social Security benefits, with retroactive payments arriving in early 2025. Most will see increased monthly checks, averaging $360 more, by April 2025.
Retirees previously impacted by WEP will see an average monthly benefit increase in social security of $360. Spouses and survivors affected by GPO will receive an average increase in social security of $700–$1,190 per month.
For someone already receiving benefits affected by WEP or GPO, how far back might they receive increased benefits under the Social Security Fairness Act? December 2023 is the last month that WEP and GPO will apply. This means that those rules no longer apply to benefits payable for January 2024 and later.
On January 5, 2025, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law, legislation that will repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
While H.R. 82 does not impact your CalSTRS retirement benefits, members who qualified for Social Security while working non-teaching jobs (or educator jobs not covered by CalSTRS) are now eligible to receive a Social Security benefit without being offset by the WEP.
Yes, a bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) was passed by Congress and signed into law as the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, becoming effective for benefits payable after December 2023. This landmark bipartisan legislation ended decades of reduced Social Security benefits for many former public servants, like teachers and law enforcement, who also earned pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security.
What's changed? The Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, cancels and ends two outdated provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset act (GPO) — that had reduced Social Security benefits for public servants with government pensions.
Social Security Fairness Act
We recently announced that we are beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The Democratic plans call for restoring solvency entirely by increasing revenue. The major Republican plans would restore solvency entirely by reducing benefits. Both parties have been reluctant to move Social Security legislation because doing so would come with political pain: raising taxes or cutting benefits.
The WEP was repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law by President Biden on January 5, 2025. The new law is retroactive to benefits paid in 2024, but it is currently unclear how long it will take the Social Security Administration to fully implement its provisions.
The repeal of the WEP and GPO under the Social Security Fairness Act is set to bring meaningful changes for many retirees, including higher monthly benefits and retroactive payments for past reductions dating back to January 2024.
The dollar amount increase to checks will vary depending on a person's benefit amount, but the average Social Security Retirement benefit, $2,008.31 in July 2025, will grow by about $56.
The extra $144 added to Social Security usually comes from the Medicare Part B Giveback benefit, offered by some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans, which pays back some or all your Part B premium, showing up as extra money in your check if it's deducted from your Social Security. To qualify, you need Original Medicare (Parts A & B), pay your own Part B premium, live in a plan's service area, and enroll in a specific Medicare Advantage plan that offers this "rebate," with the amount varying by plan and location.
See Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (last updated July 21, 2025). The Act repealed the WEP and GPO only for current and future retirees.
Those who are due retroactive benefits will receive one-time payments by the end of March, which will cover the increased benefit amounts back to January 2024. Since Social Security benefits are paid one month behind, most affected beneficiaries will receive their new monthly benefit amounts in April 2025.
Your Social Security benefit could increase significantly under the Social Security Fairness Act, depending on your work history, with estimates showing average boosts of around $360/month (WEP-affected) to $1,190/month (GPO-affected), plus retroactive lump-sum payments back to January 2024, as the Act repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) for many public servants. The exact amount varies, from small increases to over $1,000 monthly, impacting those with non-Social Security pensions, and you should receive a notice from the SSA.
The act also eliminates the windfall elimination provision, which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes. These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.
The COLA was 2.5 percent in 2025. Nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8 percent COLA beginning in January 2026. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2025.
The Trump administration is halting the use of paper checks after Sept. 30 for most federal payments. These include benefits for Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, veterans' benefits and tax refunds.
The Social Security Fairness Act eliminates this reduction of Social Security benefits due to a public pension from work not covered by Social Security. It restores the full retirement and disability benefits for those previously subject to the WEP penalty.
Yes, Social Security recipients received a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2025, but the bigger news is that they are getting a larger 2.8% COLA for 2026, announced in October 2025, which began with January 2026 payments, increasing average benefits by about $56 per month. The 2025 COLA was a smaller 2.5% increase, while the 2026 adjustment reflects moderating inflation, leading to higher payments starting in the new year.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that starting the week of February 24, 2025, it will pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or the Government Pension Offset (GPO).