What Actually Got Repealed
Because most California public school employees do not pay into Social Security through their teaching job, two provisions used to reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for people who also received a "non-covered" pension like CalSTRS. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduced a person's own Social Security retirement benefit if they had also worked in Social Security-covered jobs. The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduced or eliminated spousal and survivor Social Security benefits by two-thirds of the non-covered pension amount.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, fully repealed both provisions. The repeal is retroactive to January 2024 — December 2023 was the last month WEP and GPO applied to anyone's benefit.
The Scale of the Change
Before repeal, WEP affected an estimated 2.8 million people, with an average monthly reduction of roughly $480. GPO affected an estimated 735,000 people, with an average reduction of roughly $700 a month to spousal or survivor benefits — and about 73% of GPO-affected beneficiaries saw their spousal or survivor benefit reduced all the way to zero, meaning many never bothered applying at all.
The Social Security Administration began issuing one-time retroactive lump-sum payments in February 2025, covering the increase back to January 2024. Most affected beneficiaries began seeing the new, higher ongoing monthly benefit amount starting with their March 2025 payment (received in April 2025).
If You Never Applied Because GPO Would Have Zeroed Your Benefit
This is the single most important action item for CalSTRS-covered spouses. If GPO would have completely eliminated your spousal or survivor Social Security benefit and you never filed a claim, you are not automatically enrolled — you generally need to apply. Retroactivity for people who never previously contacted the SSA about this has, in some documented cases, been limited to a shorter look-back window than the full January 2024 date, so applying sooner rather than later matters.
A Tax Wrinkle Worth Knowing About
If you received a large retroactive lump-sum payment, that payment can push your combined income (adjusted gross income, plus non-taxable interest, plus half your Social Security benefit) higher for the year you received it, potentially increasing how much of your Social Security becomes taxable, or briefly pushing you into a higher bracket. If you received a lump sum in 2025, it is worth reviewing that year's return carefully, and factoring this into any Roth conversion planning done in the same window.
What This Means for Your Retirement Plan
For years, WEP and GPO were a genuine complication in retirement planning for California teachers — especially those with prior careers in Social Security-covered work, or spouses relying on a husband's or wife's Social Security record. That complication is now largely resolved. If Social Security income was excluded from your retirement plan because of a WEP or GPO reduction that no longer applies, it is worth revisiting your full income picture, including how it interacts with your CalSTRS pension election and any Roth conversion timeline.
If you or your spouse were ever told your Social Security benefit would be reduced or eliminated because of a CalSTRS pension, that calculation has changed. It's worth checking again, even if the answer used to be no.