WASHINGTON -- Public sector employees need not worry about being forced into the Social Security system under plans to prop up the teetering government-sponsored retirement system, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., promised representatives of public pension plans at a recent conference in Washington.
Mr. Cardin said he and Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, are crafting a bipartisan Social Security overhaul package that will not propose expanding Social Security coverage to government employees.
A number of Social Security reform proposals have suggested bringing more workers in to prop up the system.
The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, one of the organizations sponsoring the conference, opposes any efforts to expand Social Security coverage to public sector employees because they would have to shell out 6.2% in payroll taxes for Social Security, in addition to contributing to their pension funds.
State and local governments also would have to pay the employer contribution, another 6.2%, on top of their contributions to their employee pension plans.
