Social Security Fairness Act Montana: WEP and GPO Repeal for Public Employees

The Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA), signed into law on January 5, 2025, eliminated two provisions that had reduced or wiped out Social Security benefits for public employees and their families for decades. For Montana families with a disabled adult child, this repeal has direct financial consequences that affect transition planning.

What Was Repealed

The SSFA eliminated both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These provisions had penalized workers who earned pensions from employment not covered by Social Security taxes — exactly the situation faced by many Montana public employees.

WEP reduced the Social Security retirement benefit of workers who also received a pension from non-covered employment. A Montana public school teacher who worked under the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) and also earned Social Security credits from a second job could see their Social Security benefit cut significantly.

GPO reduced or eliminated spousal and survivor Social Security benefits for people receiving a government pension from non-covered work. A retired Montana teacher receiving a TRS pension could lose most or all of their Social Security spousal benefit — even if their spouse had paid into Social Security for decades.

Both provisions are now fully repealed for all benefits payable after December 2023. The Social Security Administration completed over three million retroactive payments totaling $17 billion by July 2025 to correct the records back to January 2024.

Why This Matters for Disability Families

The WEP/GPO repeal has a specific impact on families with adult children who have disabilities, particularly those eligible for Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB, formerly called Disabled Adult Child benefits).

CDB provides monthly Social Security payments to adults whose disability began before age 22, based on a parent's work record. The benefit activates when the parent retires, becomes disabled, or dies. Before the SSFA, a parent's Montana TRS or Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) pension could trigger GPO reductions that slashed or eliminated the child's CDB payment.

Under the repeal, those offsets no longer apply. A Montana teacher's or firefighter's state pension will not reduce their disabled adult child's Social Security benefits. Families who never applied for CDB because the WEP/GPO would have reduced the payment to zero should now file a new claim — eligibility is not retroactively applied automatically.

What Montana Public Employees Should Do Now

If you're already receiving reduced benefits: The SSA processed automatic adjustments for most affected beneficiaries through retroactive lump-sum payments covering January 2024 onward. Check your SSA account to verify the adjustment was applied. If your benefit still reflects the old WEP/GPO reduction, contact your local Social Security office.

If you never applied because of WEP/GPO: The repeal means benefits you were previously ineligible for may now be available. You need to file a new claim — the SSA does not automatically identify people who didn't apply. This applies to retirement benefits, spousal benefits, survivor benefits, and CDB for disabled adult children.

If your disabled adult child receives SSI: CDB payments affect SSI eligibility because SSI counts other income. When a new CDB payment starts or an existing one increases due to the repeal, the SSI amount may decrease dollar-for-dollar. Families should model the total benefit picture — CDB plus SSI plus Medicaid — before assuming the repeal is purely additive.

State Pension Offsets Still Exist

One important distinction: the SSFA repealed the federal WEP and GPO provisions. It did not change any plan-level offset rules within Montana's own retirement systems. Some state pension plans have their own internal coordination formulas that reduce benefits based on Social Security eligibility. These are plan provisions, not the federal GPO — and they remain in effect. Check with TRS or PERS directly if your benefit calculation seems off after the repeal.

For families navigating the intersection of public employee pensions, Social Security benefits, and disability transition planning, the Montana Adult Guardianship & Alternatives Guide includes a dedicated section on benefit preservation strategies — including representative payee arrangements, ABLE accounts, and special needs trusts that protect eligibility while maximizing total support.

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