Sen. Dan Sullivan is letting down the nearly 15% of all Alaska retirees and seniors who are impacted by the federal Social Security penalties known as GPO–WEP. Alaska is the most impacted state in the country.
Many Alaskans who worked for the state of Alaska or other public sector employers have been subjected to these penalties. There is a broad bipartisan consensus that these penalties are unjust and hurt our troopers, teachers, firefighters and police officers the most. Both U.S. Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola and our senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski have signaled their support to Alaska seniors by co-sponsoring federal legislation to repeal these unfair penalties.
The Alaska Legislature even came together in rare unanimous support in calling on our delegation to support the repeal; it passed 60-0. Everyone in Alaska knows that this hurts Alaska and Alaskans, but so far, Sen. Sullivan has not joined the 62 bipartisan cosponsors in the U.S. Senate.
I have written to Sen. Sullivan regarding my experience. I paid Social Security taxes from 1972 until 2014. My wife and I, as small-business owners/operators in Ketchikan, paid Social Security and self-employment tax to the IRS as required by law. I taught special education for elementary and secondary students in Ketchikan. I also coached, refereed, and was an adviser for district activities. My service to the community has been rewarded by stealing two-thirds of my Social Security benefits and reducing my wife’s survivor benefits.
Sen. Sullivan has not responded to my request to cosponsor S. 597, a bipartisan bill aiming to address these inequities by repealing the WEP and GPO to ensure deserving Americans can access their full paid Social Security benefits.
In the interests of fairness for all Alaskans, I hope other readers will strongly encourage Sen. Sullivan to co-sponsor the bipartisan bill S. 597.
— Doug Gregg
Ketchikan
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