State and Local Government Employers - Information

Welcome to SSA's web site for State and local government employers. Currently, there are about 86,000 public employers and 23 million public employees.

Social Security and Medicare coverage for State and local government employees is unique because there are special coverage provisions for public employees under the Social Security Act. It is important for public employers to know about these provisions and how they may affect their employees. For information on these provisions, state and local government employers should contact their respective State Administrators. A listing of State Administrators can be found at the following link: http://www.ncsssa.org/ssaframes.html

This site is for State and local government employers who are responsible for withholding, reporting and paying Social Security and Medicare taxes for public employees. You will find information about how public employees are covered for Social Security and Medicare, frequently asked questions, laws and regulations, Publications, who to contact in your State, and related web links that will help you understand the Social Security and Medicare coverage and reporting requirements for public employees.

For retirement planning purposes, public employees should read about the government pension offset (GPO) and the windfall elimination provision (WEP) at the following site: http://www.ssa.gov/gpo-wep.