Eleven senators signed on to a letter delivered to the Senate Finance Committee on March 3 that urged the panel not to support Social Security reform legislation that would force coverage on state and local workers.

"We believe proposals requiring the mandatory participation of state and local employees in Social Security would starve public pension[s] of the continued flow of new participants needed to maintain solvency," the letter, which was organized by Sens. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., states.

The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Social Security legislation, which means if any reform bill is to become law, it must have the approval of the panel.

Mandatory coverage would provide billions of dollars to the Social Security trust fund but would put a strain on state and local retirement systems that are now uncovered and could threaten the financial security of public retirees and result in tax increases or cuts in government services. Nonetheless, the measure is endorsed by many individuals and groups as a way to erase about one-tenth of the deficit in Social Security that is projected over the next 75 years.

In addition to Feinstein and Voinovich, the letter signers included Sens. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Barack Obama, D-Ill., Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Kit Bond, R-Mo., James Inhofe, R-Okla., Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo.