Mainline - San Francisco Firefighters Local 798

The Vannucchi Papers
THE VANNUCCHI PAPERS
BY: Jim Vannucchi, Secretary
At the 2011 IAFF Legislative Conference
discussing issues before the 111 th Congress,
the matter of Social Security was
widely discussed. The following language
is from the IAFF:
Social Security Issues
An estimated 75 percent of all fire fighters
are covered by pension plans that are
independent of Social Security. These
individuals participate in specialized fire
fighter pension plans that have been designed
to reflect the unique circumstances
of their profession, including early retirement
ages and high rates of disability.
Additionally, many fire fighters who do
not pay Social Security payroll taxes but
qualify for Social Security benefits by paying
into the program at a second job or
through a spousal benefit may see their
benefits reduced by two offsets, the Government
Pension Offset (GPO) and the
Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
The GPO reduces public employees’ Social
Security spousal or survivor benefits
by two-thirds of their public pension
while the WEP reduces the Social Security
benefits of an individual who also
receives a public pension from a job not
covered by Social Security.
Many proposals have been put forward
in Congress in recent years to mandate
Social Security coverage of all public
employees, including fire fighters. Other
bills, some of which have generated
broad support, have sought to repeal or
reform the GPO and WEP.
The IAFF opposes mandatory Social Security
coverage as an attack on fire fighter
retirement security, and supports efforts
to repeal or reform the WEP and GPO, so
long as such actions would not result in
mandatory Social Security coverage for
fire fighters.
BACKGROUND
When the Social Security system was
created in 1935, government employees
were expressly excluded. Even when
state and local governments were given
the option to join the system in the
1950s, many fire departments were still
legally barred from electing Social Security
coverage until 1994. Because of this
long exclusion from the Social Security
system, local governments created pension
systems for fire fighters to address
their retirement needs without Social
Security. An estimated 75 percent of all
fire fighters are covered by pension plans
that are independent of Social Security.
These comprehensive plans are tailored
to meet the unique needs of fire fighters
by taking into consideration the early retirement
ages and high rates of disability
retirement that are characteristic of public
safety occupations.
Many fire fighters who do not pay Social
Security payroll taxes at their fire service
job nevertheless qualify for Social Security
benefits by paying into the program
at a second job or through their spouse.
These fire fighters may see their benefits
reduced by one of two offsets: the Government
Pension Offset (GPO), which reduces
spousal benefits, and the Windfall
Elimination Provision (WEP), which reduces
the benefits of someone who paid
a minimal amount into Social Security at
a second job. The 110 th Congress has held
hearings examining these offsets and the
various bills that have been introduced to
repeal or reform the WEP or GPO.
IAFF POSITION
The IAFF has long opposed mandatory
Social Security coverage because it would
jeopardize the specialized retirement systems
created for fire fighters. The IAFF
has also supported efforts to reform the
WEP and GPO. Many policy makers argue
that the two issues are linked, and they
have proposed eliminating the offsets by
requiring everyone to pay into Social Security.
Proponents of linking the issues
note that repealing the offsets would cost
tens of billions of dollars, and claim that
the fairest way to pay for any repeal or
reform would be to collect Social Security
taxes from those municipal employees
not currently covered.
To address the potential linkage of the
two issues, delegates to the IAFF’s 2004
convention modified the organization’s
position to affirm that the IAFF supports
repeal or reform of the GPO/WEP “provided
it does not increase the likelihood
of forcing all fire fighters into mandatory
Social Security coverage.” This position
was reaffirmed at the IAFF’s 2008 convention.
The IAFF will work with congressional
leaders and the new administration to
both preserve independent retirement
systems outside of the Social Security
system and to lessen the impact of the
GPO and WEP offsets on fire fighters who
qualify for Social Security benefits.
22 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org