WASHINGTON — A day after he was in the nation’s capital to witness President Joe Biden sign into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, UMass professor Max Page said the remarkable achievement will benefit thousands.

“Simply put, it’s life-changing for thousands and thousands of public employees,” said Page, an Amherst resident who serves as president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Page, who was in the White House East Room with numerous other labor people from across the country for the signing of the bill, said it’s a remarkable victory culminating years of action to ensure that those who have paid into Social Security would get those benefits.

Getting to personally thank Biden for his support, and having the thrill of witnessing the signing, Page called the new law a way to bring a greater measure of retirement dignity to millions of public servants across the country, including the paraprofessionals in his organization and surviving spouses.

The bill affects nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs.

Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act corrects a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis.

Page explained that rescinding the rules has been talked about for decades, recalling the first repeal bill he advocated for came in 2003.

“A lot of people, a lot of unions, have pushed for this for many, many years,” Page said, adding that organizing, advocacy and persistence by unions across the nation and throughout the NEA made it possible.

Page said the signing ceremony was also bittersweet, with Biden’s tenure as president coming to a close, but that it should be seen as his “going out with a bang.”

The bill rescinds two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government.

U.S. Rep Richard Neal, whose district includes D-Springfield, said that after years of hard work, more than 2 million retired public servants will sleep easier knowing those provisions gone.

“I proudly supported this legislation in the House, and I did so because teachers, firefighters, police officers, and all affected public servants deserve a dignified retirement,” Neal said. “It’s an overdue step in guaranteeing peace of mind for these retirees, including the more than 100,000 affected in Massachusetts.”

Biden explained the importance during the signing ceremony.

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their life to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity — that’s the entire purpose of the Social Security system,” Biden said.

“This is a big deal,” Biden said.

Page said the law could also be a helpful recruiting tool. With employee shortages in education, including public schools and public colleges, people who want to change careers won’t be at risk of losing the benefits they have paid for.

In addition to labor leaders like Page, Biden was joined by retirement advocates and both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including the legislation’s primary sponsors, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and exiting Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who received a standing ovation from ceremony attendees.

The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1% of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset. About 2.1 million people, or about 3% of all beneficiaries, were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision would boost monthly payments to the affected beneficiaries by an average of $360 by next December. Ending the Government Pension Offset would increase monthly benefits in December 2025 by an average of $700 for 380,000 recipients getting benefits based on living spouses, according to the CBO. The increase would be an average of $1,190 for 390,000 or surviving spouses getting a widow or widower benefit.

Those amounts would increase over time with Social Security’s regular cost-of-living adjustments.

The change is to payments from January 2024 and beyond, meaning the Social Security Administration would owe back-dated payments. The measure as passed by Congress says the Social Security commissioner “shall adjust primary insurance amounts to the extent necessary to take into account” changes in the law. It’s not immediately clear how this will happen or whether people affected will have to take any action.

Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said firefighters across the country are “excited to see the change — we’ve righted a 40-year wrong.” Kelly said the policy was “far more egregious for surviving spouses of firefighters who paid their own quotas into Social Security but were victimized by the government pension system.”

The IAFF has roughly 320,000 members, which does not include hundreds of thousands of retirees who will benefit from the change.

“Now firefighters who get paid very little can now afford to actually retire,” Kelly said.

Brown, who as an Ohio senator pushed for the proposal for years, lost his reelection bid in November. Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees labor union, thanked Brown for his advocacy.

“Over 2 million public service workers will finally be able to access the Social Security benefits they spent their careers paying into,” Saunders said in a statement. “Many will finally be able to enjoy retirement after a lifetime of service.”

National Education Association President Becky Pringle said the law is “a historic victory that will improve the lives of educators, first responders, postal workers and others who dedicate their lives to public service in their communities.”

And while some Republicans such as Collins supported the legislation, others, including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voted against it. “We caved to the pressure of the moment instead of doing this on a sustainable basis,” Tillis told The Associated Press last month.

Still, Republican supporters of the bill said there was a rare opportunity to address what they described as an unfair section of federal law that hurts public service retirees.

The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.

The policy changes from the new law will heap more administrative work on the Social Security Administration, which is already at its lowest staffing level in decades. The agency, currently under a hiring freeze, has a staff of about 56,645 — the lowest level in over 50 years even as it serves more people than ever.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released last May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. The new law will hasten the program’s insolvency date by about half a year.

Neal cautions that the success of the legislation and security of retirement benefits could be undone by the GOP.

“Just yesterday, Republicans put the nation on notice that major cuts to their health care are on the line in exchange for their billionaire handouts and three senators voted to make major cuts to Social Security,” Neal said.

Along with ratifying the Social Security Fairness Act, earlier in his presidency Biden signed the Butch Lewis Act into law, which saved the retirement pensions of 2 million union workers.