Court Opinion

ID: 9756661
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:45:49.083845+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:57:02.317822
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent.
In reading Section 771 of the Police Pension Act, the majority mischaracterizes the workings of the federal social security old-age benefit program and thereby introduces the very ambiguity the opinion purports to resolve. Simply put, the distinction between “technical eligibility” and “selective eligibility” identified by the majority is a fiction, a manipulation of words serving to bring factors that affect the amount of benefits received within the concept of “eligibility” for benefits.
The “eligibility”1 requirements for old age insurance benefits are set out in 42 U.S.C. § 402. Subsection (a) provides that individuals insured under the program who have attained the age of 62 shall be entitled to a monthly old age insurance benefit. The benefit is equal to an amount known as the primary insurance amount “[ejxcept as provided in subsection (q)” of Section 402. Subsection (q) provides for a reduction of the benefit amount for certain beneficiaries, including any month “before the month in which such individual attains retirement age.” Retirement age is defined elsewhere as 65 years of age in the case of persons reaching age 62 before January 1, 2000. Thus a person is entitled to reduced benefits at age 62 and is entitled to benefits with no reduction at age 65.
*19The following section, Section 403, establishes the maximum benefits that may be received and further provides for de ductions on account of work. Significantly, Section 403(b)(1) declares that “[deductions ... shall be made from any payment or payments under this subchapter to which an individual is entitled ... on the basis of such individual’s wages and self-employment income____” (Emphasis added). Subsection (f)(1) goes on to state that “no part of excess earnings shall be charged to any month ... (b) in which such individual was age seventy or over.” Thus a person between the ages of 65 and 70 is entitled to (or eligible for) the full monthly benefit, but deductions will be made for earnings in excess of a specified amount.
The majority errs in characterizing the appellant as being “ineligible to receive federal social security benefits until he reached age 70, at which age he would receive full social security benefits without regard to his employment status.” Opinion at 27. Rather, upon reaching age 65 the appellant was eligible to receive full benefits, but his excess earnings necessitated deductions equal to the amount he was eligible to receive and thus he actually received nothing. Upon reaching age 70, he would continue to be eligible to receive full benefits, but deductions for excess earnings would no longer be required.2
When Section 711 of the Police Pension Act is read in this context, there is no ambiguity requiring resort to statutory construction to ascertain legislative intent. Senior Judge Silvestri, writing for the majority of the Commonwealth Court panel, observed that the common pleas court “under the guise of statutory interpretation, ... merely stated what it presume[d] to be the purpose of Section 711.” DeLellis v. *20Borough of Verona, 159 Pa.Commw. 680, 684, 634 A.2d 689, 691 (1993). Rejecting this approach, the majority held that “the statutory language is clear that because DeLellis is eligible for social security benefits, although not receiving them, that Verona, pursuant to Section 771, was entitled to offset his pension.” I would adopt this opinion and affirm the Order of the Commonwealth Court.
FLAHERTY, J., joins this dissenting opinion.

. The Social Security Act speaks in terms of "entitlement.”

. The majority also errs in stating that “The Commonwealth Court's decision ... imposes on appellant a net monthly $274.50 negative financial impact for which no offset is available." (Opinion at 29, n. 8) (emphasis added). This conclusion ignores the fact that the appellant is not receiving social security benefits because he is receiving earned income in excess of the designated amount. The earned income is the offset, and the appellant suffers no net negative impact. Any “negative impact” might as easily be attributed to the deductions required by the Social Security Act as to Section 711.