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Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., last week introduced a bill to protect low-income retirees from the Windfall Elimination Provision of Social Security law, which reduces many federal retirees' Social Security benefits by 50 percent.

Frank's bill, H.R. 860, would exempt retirees whose pensions and Social Security payments are less than $2,000 a month from the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The bill would gradually phase in cuts in the WEP for people who collect between $2,000 and $3,000 a month, and leave the formula intact for retirees who collect more than $3,000.

Federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System do not pay into Social Security. In 1983, Congress inserted the WEP into Social Security law, changing the formula for computing Social Security benefits to reduce payments to people who had worked under the Civil Service Retirement System and also in another job that qualified them for Social Security benefits. The provision also applies to people outside the federal government who are not subject to Social Security taxes.

Critics of the provision say it is too harsh on lower-income retirees.

Rep. Max Sandlin, D-Texas, introduced a bill (H.R. 742) earlier this month that would completely eliminate the WEP.

"Retirees drawing a benefit from a private pension fund do not have their Social Security benefits reduced. Why should we do this to civil servants?" Sandlin said on the floor of the House Feb. 11. "We must bring equity to the Social Security benefits of private sector and public sector retirees."

Another provision of Social Security law, the Government Pension Offset, reduces spousal benefits of federal Civil Service Retirement System retirees.

Eliminating both the WEP and the Government Pension Offset are the top legislative goals for the National Association of Retired Federal Employees.