Second Quarter 1999
New Bill to Ease Pension
Offset
In March, Mary Steele of Sandusky, Ohio, spoke at a news
conference at the U.S. Capitol, where she made an appeal to Members
of Congress: reform the government pension offset (GPO). The GPO is
a federal law that reduces Social Security spouse benefits for
retirees who receive public pensions from jurisdictions not covered
by the national system. As a result of the offset, Steele — a
retired school library technician and member of AFSCME Chapter 1184
— has a combined pension and Social Security spouse benefit of only
$589 a month.
Steele thanked Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) for re-introducing
his bill (H.R. 1217) to reform the GPO by exempting up to $1,200 of
combined pension and Social Security spousal benefits. The bill
currently has over 170 congressional co-sponsors, including Steele’s
own Representative, Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), sitting directly behind
Steele in the photo. A companion bill (S. 717) has been
re-introduced in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).
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