An Expanded Social Welfare State?
By 
The Senate passed bipartisan legislation early Saturday that would give full Social Security benefits to a group of public sector retirees who currently receive them at a reduced level, sending the bill to President Biden.
The vote to clear the measure was a lopsided 76 to 20, reflecting the broad popularity of an effort to allow approximately more than 2.8 million public pension recipients — some of them teachers, firefighters and police officers — to collect Social Security benefits at the same level as other beneficiaries.
The House passed the bill by a wide margin of 327 to 75 last month after a bipartisan group of lawmakers forced it to the floor, and President-elect Donald J. Trump recently threw his support behind it.
The rapid and resounding approval of the measure, which would cost nearly $196 billion over a decade, was notable at a time when Congress is in a protracted dispute over spending and debt, with Republicans promising huge cuts and members of both parties routinely lamenting the ballooning of the nation’s debt.
Could be the last expansion of the welfare state for a long, long time.