The Social Security Fairness Act
What they say
His campaign says that in 2024 he shepherded passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, now law, so retirees receive the full value of their benefits.
“In 2024, he shepherded passage of the Social Security Fairness Act — now law — so retirees receive the full value of their retirement benefits”
What the record shows ·
The Act is law: H.R. 82 became Public Law 118-273 on January 5, 2025, repealing the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision. Its sponsor was Garret Graves of Louisiana. Gonzalez cosponsored the Act in each of the four Congresses he served before it passed: in 2018 (H.R. 1205), 2019 (H.R. 141), 2021 (H.R. 82, as an original cosponsor) and 2023, when he joined the final version on January 24, one of 330. When Graves filed a discharge petition on September 10, 2024 to force a floor vote, Gonzalez signed it that day, the 103rd signature. He voted Yea when it passed the House 327-75 on November 12, 2024 (Roll Call 456).
Limit: Every step the record shows goes the way he says, across four Congresses, and the petition was the step that got the bill to the floor. "Shepherded" claims more than that: he sponsored no version, was not an original cosponsor of the one that became law, and was one of 218 members whose signatures forced the vote. Nothing in the record shows him managing the bill.