This week, I’m working on a story about pension costs among our local cities. During an interivew with Edward Fong of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, he mentioned that fire fighters and police officers up and down the state don’t contribute, and therefore aren’t eligible, to receive Social Security.

This explains why pension plans are typically more generous for fire fighters and police officers than non-sworn employees, Fong said. Another group of public employees exempt from Social Security is teachers, Fong said.