U.S. Senator pushing for Social Security Fairness Act
First responders are constantly putting their lives on the line for the public, but it's a job that doesn't come with social security benefits.
Instead, these public sector jobs pay into a pension system. In order to get social security, they have to work secondary private sector jobs.
The problem is, when they become public sector workers, all the social security they racked up, becomes reduced or eliminated altogether.
"Firefighters across the state are being penalized for chasing a career in public service," said Boardman Firefighter Brian Hallquist.
Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown made a stop in Boardman Tuesday to advocate for full social security benefits for first responders. It's called the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that allows private sector workers to get everything they paid into social security, and already has bipartisan support.
"If you pay into it, you should be eligible for the full benefits you pay for, period," said Senator Brown.
Research shows the social security trust fund could be exhausted by 2033, but Brown was dismissive of that idea.
"wall street gets all their friends to talk about social security running out of money and they want to privatize it and all that," said Senator Brown. "Social security will always be there. My commitment is to make sure it's always funded so it'll always be there," he said.
Senator Brown tells 21 News, all it will to take to move this bill forward is more support. There's currently 38 Democrats and seven Republicans backing this and Brown will continue to move on this until they get a majority.