The Democratic takeover of Congress puts a new - largely undefined - twist on mandatory Social Security discussions.

Democrats will chair all committees when the 110th Congress convenes in January, putting new people in charge of the two committees and one subcommittee that oversee Social Security. None of the three key lawmakers, though, has a clear record on proposals to force coverage on state and local workers.

In the Senate, Max Baucus of Montana will chair the Finance Committee. Only four states would suffer less of an impact from mandatory coverage than Montana, which according a 2005 study by the Segal Company, has 13,000 state and local employees outside Social Security and would have to pay an additional $86 million in payroll taxes over five years if those workers were required to participate. Baucus did not sign any of the three letters opposing mandatory coverage that groups of senators have sent to various parties in recent years.

On the House side, Charles Rangel of New York will chair the Ways and Means Committee, while Sander Levin of Michigan will head that panel's Social Security Subcommittee. Rangel and Levin have been leading opponents of President Bush's effort to reform Social Security by making personal investment accounts a part of the program, but they have not offered a counter-proposal. Rangel will replace Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, whose home state of California would be the hardest hit by mandatory coverage, with the five-year price tag reaching $8.2 billion. The cost to New York would be $649 million over five years.

Levin will take the spot now held by Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., who had indicated at subcommittee hearings in 2005 that he may have been open to supporting mandatory coverage. Levin's Michigan would have to pay an extra $852 million over five years if all of its public employees were forced to join Social Security.