Forcing newly-hired public employees to participate in Social Security would cost state and local governments $44 billion over the first five years, according to new calculations by The Segal Company.

The numbers update a 1999 report that Segal produced for the Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that put the price tag at $26 billion. That study concluded that having to pay the employer's half of Social Security's 12.4 percent payroll tax would likely force states and localities to trim public employee retirement benefits, increase taxes or cut government services.

All 50 states would be affected by mandatory coverage, with California, where new Social Security expenses would total $8.2 billion over five years, facing the highest costs. Texas, at $4.3 billion, Ohio, at $4.4 billion, and Illinois, at $4.2 billion, would be the next hardest-hit.