WEP and GPO are gone. What changes for Long Island public-sector retirees.

On January 5, 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law. It repealed both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), effective for benefits payable for January 2024 onward. For most Long Island public-sector retirees who were hit by either provision, this is the largest single change in their retirement income picture in a generation.

What WEP and GPO did before the repeal

Before the repeal, the Windfall Elimination Provision reduced Social Security benefits for workers who also received a pension from employment not covered by Social Security taxes. For NY public-sector retirees, this most often hit those with mixed careers. For example, a teacher who also had Social Security-covered employment in summers or before/after teaching. WEP applied a modified PIA formula that produced a smaller monthly benefit than the standard formula would have produced on the same earnings record.

Before the repeal, the Government Pension Offset was harsher: it reduced spousal and survivor Social Security benefits by two-thirds of the non-covered pension. For a NYSTRS retiree whose spouse had a substantial Social Security record, GPO commonly eliminated the spousal benefit entirely. For widows and widowers with their own non-covered pension, it eliminated the survivor benefit entirely in many cases.

What changed in 2025

Both provisions are gone. Effective for benefits payable for January 2024, neither WEP nor GPO applies. Retirees who were affected may receive an adjusted benefit calculated without either reduction, and SSA processed retroactive payments throughout 2025.

Practically, the change varies by the person's benefit type, pension, earnings record, and claiming circumstances. An affected beneficiary may receive a higher monthly amount and a retroactive adjustment, but the repeal does not override other Social Security rules that can affect the amount paid.

Who's affected on Long Island

• NYSTRS retirees with any Social Security-covered earnings outside teaching (summer jobs, prior careers, second jobs). Historically subject to WEP
• NYCTRS retirees in similar situations
• NYSLRS-ERS and NYSLRS-PFRS retirees with mixed careers
• NYCERS retirees with prior covered employment
• NYC Police and FDNY retirees with covered employment outside the uniformed service
• Any spouse or survivor of the above whose own Social Security spousal or survivor benefit was previously zeroed out by GPO

What you should do

If you were affected by WEP or GPO before 2024, SSA completed its broad payment adjustments in 2025. If you have not received an adjustment but believe you were affected, contact SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213 or at your local field office. Updated benefit estimates are also available through your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.

From a planning perspective: a sudden increase in Social Security income shifts the household tax picture. The taxability of Social Security benefits depends on combined income; if your monthly increase moved you from the 50% taxable tier into the 85% taxable tier, the year-end tax bill needs adjustment. Retroactive payments are taxed in the year received, not the year for which they apply, which can also push a household into a higher bracket for the year of receipt.

For households that had already filed for Social Security with WEP or GPO factored in, the calculation is automatic. For households still planning the claim, particularly with public-sector pensions, the key change is that the previous mental model ("WEP will reduce my SS by X") no longer applies. The full SSA formulas are now in effect, and claiming-strategy decisions should be made on the unreduced numbers.