Bad news for the Social Security Fairness Act, it may be in its final moments: How does it affect you?

The Social Security Fairness Act was passed in the lower House of Congress in September. If aims to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) that both lessen Social Security benefits for certain public workers when they retire.

The measure has been waiting to be voted on by the Senate since then, and the deadline for senators to cast their ballot for it to be signed into law is the end of the year. Without a vote, the legislation dies.

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Bad news for the Social Security Fairness Act, it may be in its final moments: How does it affect you?

The WEP and GPO affects almost three million workers in the public sector, including public school teachers, police officers, and firefighters. These measures reduce the amount these employees can receive from Social Security if they also receive income from pensions.

The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces Social Security benefits for people who receive non-covered pension and may have taken on work for which they made Social Security contributions. A non-covered pension is one paid by an employer that doesn’t withhold Social Security taxes from the worker’s salary, typically, state and local governments.

Such workers may not receive the money they had paid toward retirement. The benefit reduction could be as high as half the pension amount.

Meanwhile, the Government Pension Offset cuts down the survivor or widow/widower benefits for non-covered pensions. The GPO reduces the Social Security benefit by two-thirds of the monthly non-covered pension received.

If the Social Security Fairness Act is not passed by the Senate by year-end, these two rules will continue to be implemented, and Congress will have to begin the process to repeal them all over again.

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