It applies to those who qualified by working the required quarters to receive Social Security but were prevented from receiving their earned benefit due to WEP legislation. So they did pay the Social Security tax on their non-governmental employment. The GPO portion allows for spousal benefits to be paid as other spouses have been receiving for years even if they did not have employment of any kind.
I have a question for those of you who understand the legislation. The GPO and WEP limited benefits for those who earned social security benefits by virtue of their non-government jobs and also earned government pensions. The legislation called for back payment effective 31 Dec. 2023 so they should have received benefits effective Jan 1 2024. They were not eligible for spousal benefits so they did not apply for those benefits. Now, despite the legislation saying those benefits would be retroactive to Jan 2024 the Social Security prior regulations said spousal benefits can only be paid for the past 6 months prior to applying. Now, even with the new legislation SS is still using the 6 month look-back period rather than paying benefits according to the repeal law which would allow the look-back to Jan 1 2024. Shouldn’t the new legislation over-ride their prior regulation regarding this look-back period?