Wellbeing for Every Public Servant Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.4788 | Sponsor: Rep. Letlow, Julia (R-LA)
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Wellbeing for Every Public Servant Act of 2021
This bill modifies the application of the windfall elimination provision (WEP), which reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who receive both Social Security and a pension from non-covered employment.
Specifically, the bill eliminates the WEP for individuals whose combined monthly benefits from Social Security and non-covered public pensions are below $5,500, and it applies a partial WEP reduction to those whose combined monthly benefits are between $5,500 and $6,333.

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to restrict the 
application of the windfall elimination provision to individuals whose 
   combined monthly income from benefits under such title and other 
  monthly periodic payments exceeds a minimum wage-indexed amount of 
$5,500 and to provide for a graduated implementation of such provision 
                 on amounts above such minimum amount.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wellbeing for Every Public Servant 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. WINDFALL ELIMINATION PROVISION RESTRICTED TO TOTAL MONTHLY 
              AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF COLA-ADJUSTED AMOUNT OF $5,500.

    Section 215(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(7)) 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after ``service'),'' 
        the following: ``if the sum of the individual's primary 
        insurance amount under paragraph (1) of this subsection and the 
        portion of the monthly periodic payment which is attributable 
        to noncovered service performed after 1956 (with such 
        attribution being based on the proportionate number of years of 
        such noncovered service) is greater than \1/12\ of the amount 
        established for purposes of subparagraph (B)(iii)(I) under 
        subparagraph (B)(iv), then'';
            (2) in the second sentence of subparagraph (B)(i), by 
        striking ``(with such attribution being based on the 
        proportionate number of years of such noncovered service)'' and 
        inserting ``(as determined under subparagraph (A))'';
            (3) in the last sentence of subparagraph (B)(i), by 
        striking ``the larger of'' and all that follows through 
        ``subsection (i))'' and inserting the following: ``the primary 
        insurance amount determined under paragraph (1), reduced 
        (before the application of subsection (i)) by the applicable 
        percentage determined under clause (iii) of the excess of such 
        amount over the larger of the two amounts computed under the 
        preceding two sentences,''; and
            (4) by adding at the end of subparagraph (B) the following 
        new clauses:
    ``(iii) For purposes of clause (i), the applicable percentage in 
connection with any individual is the product (not greater than 100 
percent) derived by multiplying 2.5 percentage points by the quotient 
determined under this clause. The quotient determined under this clause 
is the quotient derived by dividing--
            ``(I) the excess of the sum referred to in subparagraph (A) 
        over \1/12\ of the amount established for purposes of this 
        subclause under clause (iv), by
            ``(II) \1/480\ of the excess of the dollar amount 
        established for purposes of this subclause under clause (iv) 
        over the dollar amount established for purposes of subclause 
        (I) under clause (iv),
rounded to the next higher multiple of 1 where such amount is a 
multiple of 0.5 and to the nearest multiple of 1 in any other case.
    ``(iv) For individuals whose concurrent entitlement described in 
subparagraph (A) commences in calendar year 2021, the dollar amounts 
established for purposes of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (iii) 
shall be $66,000 and $76,000, respectively. For individuals whose 
concurrent entitlement described in subparagraph (A) commences in any 
calendar year after 2021, each of the amounts so established shall 
equal the product derived by multiplying the corresponding amount 
established with respect to calendar year 2021 by the quotient obtained 
by dividing--
            ``(I) the national average wage index (as defined in 
        section 209(k)(1)) for the first of the 2 calendar years 
        preceding the calendar year for which the determination is 
        made, by
            ``(II) the national average wage index (as so defined) for 
        2019.
Each amount established by this clause for any calendar year shall be 
rounded to the nearest multiple of $1, except that any amount so 
established which is a multiple of $0.50 but not of $1 shall be rounded 
to the next higher multiple of $1.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 2 shall apply with respect to 
benefits for months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Notwithstanding section 215(f)(1) of the Social Security Act, the 
Commissioner of Social Security shall recompute primary insurance 
amounts to the extent necessary to carry out the amendments made by 
section 2.
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