BILL ANALYSIS �
SJR 30
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SENATE THIRD READING
SJR 30 (Hancock)
As Introduced August 13, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :38-0
RULES 6-0
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|Ayes:|Skinner, Brownley, | | |
| |Carter, Eng, Feuer, | | |
| |Furutani | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requests the President and Congress of the United
States (U.S.) to repeal two offset deductions from the Social
Security Act that apply to teachers and other public employees
in the state. Specifically, this resolution :
1)Requests that the Congress of the U.S. enact the Social
Security Fairness Act of 2011 which would repeal the
Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination
Provisions (WEP) from the Social Security Act.
2)Specifies that the Legislature of the State of California
requests President Barack Obama to sign that legislation.
3)Requires that the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the
U.S., to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the U.S.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Contains the Social Security Act, which includes two offsets,
the GPO and the WEP, which reduce Social Security benefits
payable to persons who are entitled to benefits under other
public retirement systems.
2)Provides, under the GPO, that the Social Security benefits a
person is receiving as a spouse or surviving spouse are
reduced by two-thirds the amount of any government pension the
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person receives based on his or her own work in federal,
state, or local government employment not covered by Social
Security.
3)Reduces, under the WEP, the Social Security benefits of a
retired or disabled worker and the benefits of the worker's
family if the worker also receives a pension based in whole,
or in part, on his or her own earnings based on noncovered
employment.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Social Security provides benefits to retired workers
and under certain circumstances, their spouses, former spouses,
surviving spouses and surviving former spouses. When Social
Security was originally established in 1935, state and local
governments and their employees were prohibited from
participating. Over the years, federal laws were passed
allowing these employees the opportunity to elect to join the
program and many California jurisdictions joined, including the
State of California, except for the California Highway Patrol,
firefighters and correctional officers. Other California public
employees not participating in Social Security include teachers,
more than 450 cities, counties and special districts, judges,
and those working for the University of California.
Nationwide, more than a third of all teachers are not covered
under Social Security. A majority of these teachers will be
subject to either the GPO or WEP, or in some cases, both. The
application of these provisions can have a severe impact on the
financial security of these retirees.
Numerous other resolutions have been adopted by the California
legislature in the past to encourage Congress and the President
to eliminate, or limit the application of, the Social Security
offsets. These include: AJR 10 (Torlakson), Chapter 103,
Statues of 2009; AJR 5 (Hernandez), Chapter 116, Statutes of
2007; SJR 15 (Dutton), Chapter 62, Statutes of 2006; AJR 29
(Pavley), Chapter 65, Statutes of 2003; AJR 3 (Leonard), Chapter
66, Statutes of 2001; and, SJR 4 (Soto), Chapter 94, Statutes of
2001.
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Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957
FN: 0005871