Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) hosted a virtual roundtable featuring special guests from the Social Security Administration, the National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans to discuss how the newly signed Social Security Fairness Act benefits New Mexicans. 

At the event, she highlighted the good news flowing from the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, co-sponsored by the Congresswoman and signed into law by President Biden last year. She noted “at a time of such a chaotic attack on senior’s data and services, I am happy to talk about a long overdue relief for thousands of retired public servants, including teachers, police officers, and firefighters. The new benefits apply whether you worked for the federal, state or local government.”

The law repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), increasing Social Security benefits for over 15,800 New Mexicans.

At the same time, the Congresswoman warned about new threats to Social Security, “an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, now has access to classified materials and private financial information from Social Security, Medicare, and the IRS—a major security risk for seniors and retirees.” She also condemned the Republican Study Committee’s budget proposal to raise the retirement age to 69 or cut benefits which would impact 1.6 million New Mexicans.

In contrast to that Republican approach, Congresswoman Leger Fernández will co-sponsor legislation to prevent unlawful access to the Treasury's payment system. She also co-sponsored the Social Security 2100 Act, which would increase benefits across the board for the first time in 52 years, improve Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) to reflect seniors' real expenses and boost benefits for lower-income seniors and cut taxes for middle-class retirees. Her  bill would keep Social Security solvent through 2100 by ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share.

Watch the roundtable here. 

During the event, several seniors raised their concerns about President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire advisor and “special government employee" Elon Musk, illegally gaining access to sensitive data from the U.S. Department of Treasury, including Social Security and Medicare payment systems. 

One attendee asked, “I am retired on Social Security. And everything about this new administration is horrifying. But specifically, I wanted to know what we can do as citizens? As that new Secretary of Treasury Bessent said that there is all of a sudden, the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk [is now] capable of putting his hands into all of the trillions of transactions that ensure we receive our Social Security, Tax refunds, Medicare… It's illegal.”

“We’ve had several attempts by this new administration to do things that are really going to hurt the American people. He has backed down on a couple of them but we need everybody to continue the outrage, the public outcry. You can continue to call your elected officials. A couple of phone calls to your Representative can go a long way. House Democrats and I are sounding the alarm and standing up for the American people,” responded the Congresswoman.

After the event, Rep. Leger Fernández attended a protest against Musk’s hostile takeover in front of the Treasury Department.

Watch a video from the protest here.

With the new law, some retirees will see increases of as much as $360 to $700 under either of the provisions.  These additional payments will go a long way to address rising costs.  Since the Social Security Fairness Act’s effective date is retroactive to January 2024, SSA will adjust benefits to reflect what seniors should have received in 2024.  That retroactive pay may come in between 6 months to a year.    

At the roundtable, retirees who hadn’t applied for Social Security because of the penalties also spoke up. It's important that current Social Security beneficiaries who think they qualify for the new benefits apply and stay informed about updates on the law’s implementation by visiting the SSA’s FAQ website here. The survivor benefit application is not available online yet.

For more information call the SSA at 800-772-1213 and when the system asks, "How can I help you today?" say, "Fairness Act." Then, you'll be asked a few questions. Your answers will help Social Security connect you to a WEP-GPO trained representative to take your claim.

If constituents have issues with the SSA or any government agency they can contact the Congresswoman’s casework team at (505) 428-4680.