Social Security: the Fairness Act
What they say
Her campaign calls her the author of the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in 2025, and says more than 25,000 Mainers have since had their earned benefits restored.
“As the author of the Social Security Fairness Act which was signed into law in 2025, Susan is the leader in the Senate for Social Security.”
Source: Collins for Senator
What the record shows ·
The Act was introduced in the Senate in every Congress from 2003 to 2023, and the text of every version as introduced names her: first after the sponsor in ten of those eleven Congresses, on Dianne Feinstein's bills of 2003 to 2009, John Kerry's of 2011 and Sherrod Brown's of 2015 to 2023, and third on Mark Begich's of 2013. Before that, in November 2001, she was the first senator to cosponsor Feinstein's 2001 version, S. 1523. The Congressional Record of February 11, 2003 prints her saying she was pleased to join Feinstein in introducing it. No version names her as sponsor. The measure that became law was the House bill, H.R. 82, sponsored by Representative Garret Graves; in the Senate debate she thanked Brown for his leadership and said they had championed the bill together for several years. She voted Yea when the Senate passed it 76 to 20 in the sitting that began December 20, 2024 (Roll Call 338), and it became Public Law 118-273 on January 5, 2025.
Sources: Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov
Limit: The label reads author as the record shows her role: for twenty years she introduced the bill beside its sponsor, which is a co-author's part. The record does not make her its only author. Each Senate version was another senator's bill, and the one that became law was the House's. Her campaign's FAQ lists the Act among legislation she authored or co-authored, which is the closer description. The figure of 25,000 Mainers is the Social Security Administration's to publish and is not checked here.