Social Security Measure Signed

President Bush has signed into law (PL 108-203) a Social Security reform measure that while not directly affecting federal retirees has been of interest to those seeking to modify or eliminate the “government pension offset.” The GPO reduces or eliminates spousal or survivor Social Security benefits for those drawing an annuity from a retirement system that doesn’t include Social Security, such as CSRS. The measure among other things closes a loophole that had allowed some state and local government employees to avoid the offset by taking a Social Security-covered job for a short period just before retirement. Under federal employee retirement law, an individual would have to work for at least five years under a Social Security-covered job to be exempt from the offset in that situation. The newly signed law applies the same five-year requirement to state and local government employees and may signal that Congress and the administration are of a mind to tighten, rather than loosen, GPO policy.