Other GPO Approach Also Likely

Shaw’s GPO reform approach differs somewhat from a more long-running GPO proposal, one that would apply the offset only to combined benefits exceeding $1,200 a month. For the second Congress in a row, a House bill reflecting that approach gathered a majority of members as co-sponsors, ending with 299 (a Senate counterpart had 37 backers). However, that bill also did not move through the legislative process. Capitol Hill officials say the best prospect for any movement on the GPO provision-as well as on a sister provision, the windfall elimination provision that reduces an individual’s own Social Security benefit when the person has fewer than 30 years of “substantial” Social Security-covered employment-is as part of a broader Social Security reform effort. Prospects of such an effort being made are considered better in the new Congress convening in January but chances of enactment remain highly questionable.