After August 15, 1994, all States were authorized to provide coverage for police officer
and firefighter positions under a retirement system. A coverage group for police officer
and firefighter positions established through a majority-vote referendum consists
of all current and future employees in positions under the retirement system in which
the referendum was held, including ineligibles. Those States and all interstate instrumentalities
authorized to use divided-vote referendum procedures may do so for police officer
and firefighter positions. If the divided-vote procedure is used, the retirement system
coverage group consists of all members who chose coverage and future members except
that “ineligibles” may not be covered as a part of such a group.
Notwithstanding Federal authorization to cover police officer and firefighter positions
under a retirement system, State law must also authorize the State to cover those
positions under the State’s Section 218 Agreement. The State must first review State
statutes and its enabling act to see if existing language prohibits extending Social
Security coverage under the Section 218 Agreement to police officer and firefighter
positions under a retirement system. If this language exists, the State must remove
it, which usually requires action by the State legislature. Once the legislature passes
corrective legislation, or if there is no prohibitive language to correct, then the
State must modify the language of the State’s Section 218 Agreement to permit coverage
of police officer and firefighter positions already covered by a retirement system
(see template in SL 40001.490, Exhibit 30). After all of these actions have been taken, the State may begin holding
referendums and extending coverage to those positions.
Before holding the referendum, the State must decide what the retirement system will
be for referendum and coverage purposes. In addition to the State’s option to designate
a retirement system for purposes of a referendum (SL 30001.321A), the State has additional choices for covering police officers and firefighters.
The state may designate the following groups as the designated retirement system:
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The police positions only;
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The firefighter positions only; or
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The positions of police officers and firefighters.