Subcommittee backs bill requiring schools to notify employees whether Social Security is withheld

Representative Leverett presented House Bill 37 (LC491994), a bill requiring school systems to provide written notification at hiring and every five years about whether Social Security taxes are withheld for that employee, what alternative retirement plans apply, and, upon separation, whether Social Security taxes were withheld during the employee’s tenure.

Leverett said the measure responds to employees who were surprised at retirement to discover they had not paid into Social Security through their school employment and therefore have different benefit calculations. “This is a way just to sort of make that information accessible to everybody that might be an employee of the school system,” he said.

Lisa Morgan, a kindergarten teacher and president of the Georgia Association of Educators, testified in support and explained the federal Social Security Fairness Act and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) context. Morgan said the Social Security Fairness Act is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, and could affect roughly 80,000 Georgians who were subject to WEP; she said HB37 is not superseded by that federal change because HB37 simply requires notice so employees can plan.

Committee members asked whether recent federal changes affected the bill’s intent; members and witnesses said the notice requirement remains valuable even if federal law evolves. The committee voted to give HB37 a due-pass recommendation and advance it to the full committee.

Why it matters: The bill aims to prevent surprise reductions in Social Security benefits by ensuring employees know whether their school employment is covered by FICA withholding.

What’s next: HB37 will be considered by the full committee.