About 400,000 Californians due bigger Social Security payments under new federal law
About 400,000 California Social Security recipients should be eligible for new Social Security benefits — retroactive to December 2023 — under legislation signed into law this week by President Joe Biden.
They could get an average of $360 to $1,190 a month, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, depending on how they qualify for benefits.
The bill provides new benefits to certain public employees such as teachers, firefighters, state, county, city and district employees.
Included can be employees who paid Social Security while working in qualifying jobs, but were affected by a federal law that had reduced their benefits because they also had government jobs.
The changes “will have a significant impact on these retirees but this is also about a fairness issue,” said Maria Freese, senior legislative representative at the nonpartisan National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
The extra payments would be retroactive to December 2023. Biden said back benefits would come as a lump sum payment.
Precisely when beneficiaries will see all this money is unclear.
“The Social Security Administration is evaluating how to implement the Act. We will provide more information as soon as available,” the agency said in a statement Monday.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimated that about 290,000 California public employees, mostly retired workers, could be affected by one part of the legislation.
They could get an additional $360 monthly by December, an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office said. The new law repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision, which cut benefits for people who earned them but also received a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security.
For instance, a teacher who also worked in a private sector job, such as a counselor at a private camp, could have seen a reduced benefit. Now, though, they should get the full Social Security benefit they’ve earned.
Another new provision would help an estimated 102,000 California spouses. They could receive an additional average monthly benefit of $700 by the end of the year, CBO estimated. Surviving spouses could get an average of $1,190 a month.
A total of 6.3 million Californians receive some kind of Social Security benefits.
They will be helped by the law’s repeal of the Government Pension Offset, which cut benefits for living and surviving spouses who also got benefits from other government pensions.
Claimants do not need to take any action, though they should make sure Social Security has their current mailing address and direct deposit information.
Any changes can be made with one’s Social Security account online. Claimants can sign in at www.ssa.gov/myaccount.
Anyone who has not filed for Social Security benefits in the past can file online or schedule an in-person appointment.
The changes got strong bipartisan support in Congress, and Biden lauded the bill as he signed it.
But some in Congress, as well as budget watchdog groups, were concerned that the changes will hurt Social Security’s already shaky economic future.
Without the changes, Social Security was projected to become insolvent in 2035, which would mean lower benefits if nothing is done.
“Hastening Social Security’s insolvency will only make its consequences worse,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Freese saw an immediate need for the changes, though. “We worry about anything that advances the trust fund depletion date but because of the unfairness issue we thought this was something that needed to get done while it could be done,” she said.
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM.
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