Protecting retirement benefits for Missourians

Ensuring Missourians who have paid into Social Security receive their full retirement benefits is the aim of continued bipartisan efforts from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.

The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act would repeal provisions in law that reduce Social Security payouts for individuals who paid into Social Security, yet are also eligible for pension benefits from public sector jobs outside the Social Security system.

“The money Missourians paid into Social Security is theirs, and there should be a legal guarantee that they’re going to get out what they put in, and be able to retire with the security they expect,” McCaskill said. “It’s a matter of basic fairness that Social Security retirement benefits are protected for the first responders, teachers and other public servants who paid into this system over years of hard work.”

Protecting Social Security benefits and advocating for the program’s recipients have been a top priority for McCaskill throughout her time in the Senate. Previously serving as the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, McCaskill worked with Republican Senator Susan Collins to highlight the retirement security crisis. In 2015, McCaskill embarked on a statewide tour of Missouri during which she heard directly from seniors about what they need for a comfortable retirement.

Last year, McCaskill successfully helped forge an agreement to protect Social Security benefits for 70 St. Louis workers and their dependents, that will allow the workers to keep their full benefits. The agreement—which is both retroactive for current workers and applicable for all new future hires—came after the Social Security Administration issued a decision removing the workers from the benefits program. McCaskill called on the agency to reverse the decision and convened a meeting of stakeholders from all sides to hammer out a solution.