Friday, August 12, 2005
Did You Know....All federal employees, including Congressmen, pay into Social Security

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21) required all federal employees hired in 1984 or later to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress.

The Civil Service Retirement System, having been established in 1920, predated passage of the Social Security Act by 15 years. Requiring federal workers to participate in both CSRS and Social Security would have duplicated some benefits and would have resulted in employee payroll deductions for the two programs that in 2005 would exceed 13% of pay.

After mandating Social Security coverage of new federal employees beginning in 1984, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers with Social Security coverage as its foundation. The result of this effort was the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-335).

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