Social Security Fairness Act Update; NAPO Meets with CFPB Director on Data Privacy; The Importance of Knowing Where Every Component of Your Body Armor is Made; NAPO on the Hill: Lame Duck Priorities, PSOB; Submit Your TOP COP Nominations Today!;

October 18, 2024

Social Security Fairness Act Update

In an October 11 meeting with Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), the sponsors of H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, they stated their intention of calling the bill up for a vote as soon as Congress returns on November 12. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) then has two days to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. This gives us three weeks to shore up the support of the 329 cosponsors of the bill to ensure we can count on their vote when it comes to the floor.

There are several scenarios for how H.R. 82 could come up for a vote. One possible way is that House leadership could bring it up under suspension of the rules, meaning there will be no debate and no amendments, but we would need 290 votes (two-thirds majority) to pass the bill. That would mean we can only lose 39 cosponsors. If we are not successful in passing the bill under suspension, the discharge petition rules still stand, and the bill can be called up to the floor under regular order for a vote. Our objective is to get a vote on the bill without amendments. If we can keep the vast majority of the cosponsors of H.R. 82 by our side, we will be victorious.

To maintain our momentum and support, NAPO continues to reach out to every Member of Congress who signed the discharge petition and cosponsored H.R. 82, thanking them for standing with us in support of restoring the Social Security retirement benefits of millions of public servants across the county. Again, it is only with their steadfast support that we will ultimately get H.R. 82 enacted into law.

In our conversations with cosponsors, the biggest concerns we are hearing are the $296 billion price tag for the bill and the fact that it will cause the Social Security Trust Fund to go insolvent earlier than currently predicted. Our answer to that continues to be that the $296 million is not taxpayer dollars that will increase our national debt. It is the money that is being stolen over the next 10 years from public servants’ Social Security benefits. That is $296 billion that will be taken out of the hard-earned monthly Social Security checks of retired law enforcement officers, teachers, nurses, and bus drivers over the next 10 years.

As for the Social Security Trust Fund, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest score of H.R. 82, repeal of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) will only cause it to go insolvent 6 months earlier. Some members of Congress were under the impression it could cut the life of the Trust Fund by a year or more, so it is important that we educate them on the truth. Further, Congress cannot continue to harm the financial security of millions of our nation’s public servants for the next 10 years just to give the Trust Fund 6 additional months of solvency. Congress must do its job and reform Social Security for the sake of all future Social Security beneficiaries regardless of the GPO and WEP.

We urge you to join us in reinforcing the support of the 329 cosponsors of H.R. 82 and the 218 Representatives who signed the discharge petition to ensure we have the votes needed to pass the bill in the House. Please reach out to your Congressional Representative(s) who are cosponsors. This link (Cosponsors - H.R.82 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress) is a searchable list of cosponsors of H.R. 82 by state and each name is linked to the website and contact information. You can also find the contact information for staff for every office here and a one-pager on the Social Security Fairness Act here.

We are also working on the 62 Senate cosponsors and Senate leadership to ensure that the Senate will swiftly take up the bill once it is passed by the House.

Please contact Andy Edmiston, NAPO’s Director of Governmental Affairs, at aedmiston@napo.org or (703) 549-0775 if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your efforts to help us finally get H.R. 82 across the finish line!

NAPO Meets with CFPB Director on Data Privacy

On October 7, NAPO met with the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Rohit Chopra, to discuss the proposed regulations CFPB is considering issuing on data privacy. NAPO was joined in the meeting by the leadership of Atlas Privacy, who we are working with to defend Daniel’s Law in New Jersey. NAPO member organization the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association pushed for the enactment of Daniel’s Law, which prohibits the disclosure of the residential addresses of active and retired state court judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers on websites controlled by New Jersey state, county, and local government agencies. NAPO views the protection of officer’s private information as a vital officer safety measure as officers and their families have been doxed and violently targeted due to their work.

The CFPB is considering proposals to clarify the extent to which credit header data (name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number) is considered a consumer report. This could change the information that is available to data brokers, and consequently, the data available to law enforcement to help identify and pursue leads. NAPO’s goal in the meeting was to ensure that the proposed rules protect not only officer’s private information from being sold and made public, but also safeguard law enforcement’s access to certain publicly available data that is vital to aiding victims and preventing and solving crimes.

Director Chopra indicated they share our goals of protecting officer personal identifying information as well as ensuring law enforcement still has the tools available to quickly and efficiently solve crimes. The meeting ended with a commitment to open channels of communication and working together to find a compromise proposal. We look forward to working closely with CFPB and our partners at Atlas Privacy to find a path forward that is satisfactory for both sides.

The Importance of Knowing Where Every Component
of Your Body Armor is Made

Chinese manufactured fibers, which are less expensive and are not subject to the same quality control standards as U.S. made fibers, are increasingly being used to produce ballistic-resistant fabrics like those used in body armor. The performance of a ballistic-resistant vest or hard armor rifle plate is dependent on the strength and quality of the fibers. While, thankfully, there have not been any recorded cases of a bulletproof vest made with Chinese fibers failing, we need to ensure the body armor our nation’s law enforcement agencies are purchasing is made with the highest quality materials.

NAPO’s concerns are based on experience with foreign-manufactured fibers failing officers. Between 2001-2005, there were now substantiated allegations that Zylon®-based body armor, manufactured by the Japanese company Toyobo, degraded quickly in normal heat and humidity, and that this degradation rendered bulletproof vests containing Zylon® unfit for use. A 2018 settlement between the Department of Justice and Toyobo alleges that the company published misleading data on the degradation issue and even when some vests were recalled, continued to push other body armor manufacturers to keep selling Zylon® containing vests.

In 2005, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the component of the Department of Justice that tests and certifies “torso-worn ballistic resistant body armor”, ultimately decertified all vests containing Zylon® after conducting a thorough review of both new and used Zylon®-containing vests. The review found that 57 percent of used vests could not stop bullets that they had been certified to stop.

The issue here is that body armor marketed as “made in the America” does not always equate to manufacturers using domestic products to make the armor. The Department of Defense, due to the 1941 Berry Amendment, is required to purchase products, including all its components, that are 100 percent domestically produced. We believe that our nation’s law enforcement officers should have the same standard of protection as our service members and the assurance that 100 percent of their body armor is manufactured in the U.S. to U.S. standards.

NAPO is closely monitoring this, and we are considering all possible avenues to ensure the safety of our officers and safeguard the reliability of the body armor they depend on. If your department is considering purchasing new vests, be sure to ask where every component of that vest was made.

NAPO on the Hill: Lame Duck Priorities, PSOB

NAPO has been spending the October recess meeting with staff to push our priorities for the post-Election lame duck session and to set up possible legislation for next year. We met with staff of Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL), the chair of the House Law Enforcement Caucus, staff of Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), staff of House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA), Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).

In our meeting with Congressman Rutherford’s staff, we highlighted our priorities for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), discussed the future of the House Law Enforcement Caucus, and reviewed the alarming GAO Report on transparency and accountability within the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program. Our NDAA priorities are maintaining the Lifesaving Gear for Police Act, which was included in the House-passed bill, and the Law Enforcement and Victim Support Act that was included in the Senate version of the bill. Additionally, we continue to push for the inclusion of the Honoring Hometown Heroes Act, which would cover carcinogen-related cancers under PSOB.

As for the House Law Enforcement Caucus, it lost its Democrat co-chair when Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) passed away on August 21. With his passing, we lost a strong champion of law enforcement and a bipartisan partner on several of NAPO’s priority legislation. In the next Congress, the 119^th Congress, we are looking for a strong Democrat co-chair to join Congressman Rutherford and make the Law Enforcement Caucus a real presence on the Hill in support of America’s law enforcement.

We also made certain that Congressman Rutherford was aware of the GAO Report on PSOB and understood the serious consequences of its findings.

In our meeting with Senator Grassley’s staff, we discussed in detail the GAO Report. Senator Grassley was the lead sponsor of three bills we worked to enact to improve transparency and accountability within the PSOB program: Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2017, Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act of 2020, and Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021. It is incredibly frustrating that these efforts are being ignored or thwarted by PSOB. The Program was designed to offer peace of mind to the men and women who chose to serve in public safety and to make a strong statement about the value American society places on the contributions of those who risk their lives to serve their communities. PSOB is not living up to that purpose and we believe something must be done.

NAPO’s meetings with the staff of House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Neal and with Congressman Graves and Congresswoman Spanberger were regarding H.R. 82 and what needs to be done to secure the repeal of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

We are also looking at a potential disaster supplemental appropriations bill as a possible vehicle for the Honoring Fallen Heroes Act. As first responders continue their rescue and recovery efforts in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, they are being exposed to an untold number of carcinogens that have leached into the flood waters. We cannot leave them behind as we look to make whole the victims of these natural disasters. Our first responders deserve to know that if they develop a carcinogen-related cancer due to the performance of their duties, their families will be taken care of.

Submit Your TOP COP
Nominations Today!

Please take the time to nominate examples of outstanding police work for this prestigious award. We count on you, our members, to help us get the word about TOP COPS out and obtain nominations for officers nationwide. Join us in honoring America’s Finest by nominating a case today. The nomination form is attached and can be found on our website, and it must be postmarked or faxed to (703) 684-0515 by January 10, 2025. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact NAPO’s Director of Events, Elizabeth Loranger, at elorange@napo.org or (703) 549–0775.

2025 will mark the 32^nd year that NAPO has hosted the TOP COPS Awards^®. The TOP COP Awards^® Dinner will take place May 12, 2025, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, again coinciding with National Police Week. With your help and partnership, the TOP COPS Awards^® will continue to be a tremendous success!

THE WASHINGTON REPORT

NAPO