WHEREAS:
AFSCME has long opposed diverting Social Security payroll contributions away from the traditional social insurance system, where benefits are guaranteed by the "full faith and credit" of the federal government, in order to fund risky retirement investment accounts; and

WHEREAS:
President Bush made the privatization of the Social Security program his top domestic proposal at the start of his second term and campaigned across the country to build support for his proposal, which would have destroyed the present program by permitting workers to divert a portion of their payroll contributions to private investment accounts; and

WHEREAS:
President Bush misrepresented the financial future of the Social Security program by telling the American people that Social Security was bankrupt and would not be available when younger workers reach retirement age; and

WHEREAS:
President Bush’s proposal to privatize Social Security would have cut benefits for future retirees, reduced disability and survivor benefits and raised the deficit by requiring $2 to $3 trillion in transition costs; and

WHEREAS:
The American public rejected the scare tactics of the Bush Administration and Congress has failed to even debate the President’s privatization bill; and

WHEREAS:
AFSCME played a major role in educating AFSCME members and the general public about the shortcomings of President Bush’s privatization plan.  AFSCME activists should be congratulated for the role they played in voicing their concerns by holding meetings and rallies all over the country and deluging the White House and Congress with hundreds of thousands of letters and calls in opposition to the Bush plan to privatize Social Security; and
 
WHEREAS:
The official 2006 report of the Social Security trustees, made up of President Bush's top cabinet officers, clearly states that the system will be able to pay all promised benefits until 2040, after which Social Security will experience a modest shortfall, but will still be able to cover 74 percent of promised benefits far into the future.  The future shortfall is significant but manageable, and can be corrected without the drastic changes that President Bush has proposed; and

WHEREAS:
Approximately 25 percent of public employees and retirees are from jurisdictions that do not participate in Social Security and rely solely on their state and local government pensions.  Some proposals for Social Security "reform" have included mandatory Social Security coverage for all of these public jurisdictions, even though the income it would produce for Social Security would add less than two years to the solvency of the trust funds and incur millions in future obligations for the system; and

WHEREAS:
Mandatory coverage for future hires would cost states and localities an estimated $5 billion per year and would ultimately result in destabilized pension funds for current public employees and retirees, two-tier pension systems with reduced future benefits, and a push by state legislatures to replace strong defined benefit pension plans with risky defined contribution plans; and

WHEREAS:
The same public employees and retirees in non-participating jurisdictions are currently subjected to two unfair pension offsets, required under the federal Social Security Act; the Government Pension Offset virtually eliminates Social Security spousal and survivors benefits for these public pensioners, a particularly harsh penalty for thousands of low-pension women, and the Windfall Elimination Provision affects public employees and retirees, significantly reducing the Social Security benefits they earned themselves through other jobs; and

WHEREAS:
These two offsets were enacted by Congress on an arbitrary basis and do not penalize private sector pensioners who are able to collect full pensions and full Social Security benefits.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME recommits to fighting any future efforts by President Bush or other politicians to privatize the Social Security program; and
 
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME reiterates its opposition to carving out private investment accounts from Social Security, and reaffirms its faith in Social Security as the risk-free foundation of retirement income for most American workers and the nation's premier system of income protection for America's working families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will demand, prior to the November elections, that all congressional candidates state their position on whether they support the privatization of the Social Security program so that every voter will know where they stand on the future of Social Security; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME opposes federal proposals requiring mandatory Social Security coverage in public jurisdictions that currently do not participate; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports the enactment of federal legislation to repeal or significantly modify Social Security's Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY:  Dale Chase, President and Delegate
Dorothy L. Bryant, Secretary and Delegate
AFSCME Council 67
Maryland