A Texas congressman has launched a procedural move aimed at forcing a House of Representatives vote on repeal of the government pension offset and windfall elimination provision.

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.

Several bills are introduced in each session of Congress to reform or repeal GPO and WEP, but none gets even a vote in committee. The Social Security Fairness Act of 2005, sponsored by Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., has been co-sponsored by 324 members - well more than half of the House - but congressional leaders are resistant to allowing the bill to move forward, largely because of its cost of more than $60 billion over 10 years.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, filed a "discharge petition" on Sept. 20 that, if signed by at least 218 of the House's 435 members, would require a House vote on McKeon's bill. As of Sept. 25, the discharge petition had 34 signatures.

While 218 is well below the number of congressmen who have already pledged their support for the bill, the petition is unlikely to be effective. McKeon introduced a GPO/WEP repeal bill in the previous Congress that had 300 co-sponsors, but a discharge petition aimed at bringing the bill to a floor vote fell 25 signatures short.