Social Security Fairness Act and CalPERS: What the GPO/WEP Repeal Means

What Changed on January 5, 2025

The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) eliminated two provisions that had reduced Social Security benefits for people who also received pensions from jobs that didn't pay into Social Security — like many CalPERS positions.

Government Pension Offset (GPO) used to reduce Social Security spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of the CalPERS pension amount. For many CalPERS survivors, this zeroed out their Social Security entirely.

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduced the earned Social Security retirement or disability benefits of workers who also received a non-covered public pension.

Both are now repealed, retroactive to benefits payable from January 2024 onward.

What This Means for CalPERS Survivors

A surviving spouse can now collect their full CalPERS monthly survivor allowance — whether that's a Survivor Continuance, Option 2W payment, 1957 Survivor Benefit, or any other monthly benefit — alongside their full, unreduced Social Security survivor benefit. No federal offset applies.

Before the repeal, a CalPERS survivor receiving a $2,000 monthly Survivor Continuance would have seen their Social Security survivor benefit reduced by about $1,333 (two-thirds of the pension). Many received nothing from Social Security at all. That offset is gone.

Two Groups, Two Action Paths

If you're already receiving Social Security: The SSA completed automated retroactive adjustments by July 2025, with back-pay averaging approximately $6,710 covering January 2024 through the adjustment date. Check your monthly benefit statement to confirm the increase went through. If your payment still looks reduced, contact SSA at 1-800-772-1213.

If you never applied because of the GPO/WEP: This is the critical group. SSA does not automatically enroll people who chose not to apply under the old rules. You must file a new application — through ssa.gov or by phone. Because your filing date affects when benefits can start, waiting can delay benefits.

What the Repeal Does Not Change

CalPERS has its own internal plan formulas that are separate from the federal offsets:

Coordinated retirement formulas. Some CalPERS Miscellaneous positions used lower pension multipliers for earnings below a set threshold because the position was also covered by Social Security. These are contractual plan features, not the federal WEP — and they were not affected by the repeal.

Survivor Continuance percentages. CalPERS pays 25% of the Unmodified Allowance to survivors of retirees who were covered by Social Security, and 50% to survivors of non-covered retirees. This is a CalPERS plan provision, not the GPO. The 25%/50% split remains in place.

The distinction matters because people sometimes see "Social Security coordination" in their CalPERS documents and assume the repeal changes their pension calculation. It doesn't touch CalPERS plan math — only the federal offset that SSA applied to Social Security payments.

Putting the Two Benefits Together

For a CalPERS survivor in a non-covered position, the financial picture has improved substantially. They can now receive the 50% Survivor Continuance from CalPERS, plus the 1959 Survivor Benefit (if applicable), plus their full Social Security survivor benefit — all without any federal reduction.

The CalPERS Survivor & Death Benefits Guide walks through exactly how CalPERS benefits and Social Security interact under the new rules, including the specific steps for filing a first-time Social Security claim after the repeal.

See more California guides →