State and local governments would be required to provide information to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to assist the agency's enforcement of GPO and WEP under a proposal included in President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget plan.

The government pension offset (GPO) reduces or eliminates Social Security spousal and survivor's benefits for retirees who collect a pension from a job that was not covered by the program. The windfall elimination provision (WEP) cuts Social Security retirement benefits for individuals who are eligible for both those benefits and a pension from a non-covered job.

The Bush administration's proposal would require state and local governments to provide information regarding pensions paid to public employees who were in non-covered jobs to SSA, which would use that data to spot people who should be subject to GPO or WEP reductions. If a state or local government failed to comply, it could be denied access to IRS tax information as a penalty.

The proposal is projected to save Social Security $2.4 billion during the first seven years of implementation.