[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1819 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1819

To amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to provide for retirement 
                         savings and security.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 1996

    Mr. Daschle (by request) (for himself, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Dodd, Mr. 
 Kennedy, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Mosely-Braun, Mr. Rockefeller, 
and Mr. Simon) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to provide for retirement 
                         savings and security.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

                TITLE I--SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEC. 1000. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Retirement Savings 
and Security Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--

                TITLE I--SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sec. 1000. Short title; table of contents.
 TITLE II--CONFORMING RAILROAD RETIREMENT BENEFITS WITH SOCIAL SECURITY

Sec. 2001. Child's annuity.
Sec. 2002. Entitlement to spousal annuities.
Sec. 2003. Continued payment to survivors of waived lump sum benefits 
                            in amounts equivalent to social security 
                            survivor benefits.
Sec. 2004. Lump sum death benefits equivalent to social security 
                            benefits.
Sec. 2005. Payment of benefits equivalent to social security benefits 
                            with respect to service for which certain 
                            railroad retirement annuities are not 
                            payable.
Sec. 2006. Effective date.

 TITLE II--CONFORMING RAILROAD RETIREMENT BENEFITS WITH SOCIAL SECURITY

SEC. 2001. CHILD'S ANNUITY.

    (a) Eligibility for Annuity.--Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement 
Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(i) The child (as defined in section 216(e) and (k) of the Social 
Security Act) of an individual, if--
            ``(i)(I) such child will be less than 18 years of age,
            ``(II) such child will be less than 19 years of age and a 
        full-time elementary or secondary school student, or
            ``(III) such child will, without regard to his or her age, 
        be under a disability which began before the child attained age 
        22 or before the 84th month following the month in which his 
        most recent entitlement to an annuity under this subsection 
        terminated because he or she ceased to be under a disability, 
        and
            ``(ii) such child is unmarried and dependent upon the 
        employee,
shall be entitled to an annuity, if he or she has filed an application 
therefor, in the amount provided under section 4 of this Act.''
    (b) Amount of Annuity.--Section 4 of such Act is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by adding at the end ``and child 
        annuities''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) The annuity of a child of an individual under section 2(i) of 
this Act shall be in the amount that would have been payable to the 
child under title II of the Social Security Act if all of the 
individual's service after December 31, 1936, had been included in the 
term `employment' as defined in that Act reduced by any benefit payable 
under title II of the Social Security Act.''.
    (c) Technical Amendment.--The first sentence of section 3(f)(3) of 
such Act is amended by striking ``the spouse and divorced wife'' and 
inserting ``the spouse, child, and divorced wife''.

SEC. 2002. ENTITLEMENT TO SPOUSAL ANNUITIES.

    (a) Entitlement Despite Certain Age Requirements.--Section 2(c)(1) 
of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ``A spouse who is not entitled to an annuity by reason 
of paragraph (i)(B) of this subdivision, but who otherwise meets the 
conditions for entitlement to an annuity under this subsection, shall 
be entitled to an annuity in such amount as would have been payable 
under title II of the Social Security Act if all of the individual's 
service after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term 
`employment' as defined in that Act reduced by any benefit payable to 
the spouse under title II of the Social Security Act.''.
    (b) Removal of Age Requirement for Divorced Spouses.--Section 
2(c)(4) of such Act is amended by striking paragraph (ii), by 
redesignating paragraph (iii) as paragraph (ii), and by striking 
paragraph (i) and inserting the following:
                    ``(i) such individual has completed 10 years of 
                service; and''.
    (c) Entitlement of Divorced Spouse Where Worker's Annuity Is Not 
Payable.--Section 2(e)(5) of such Act is amended by striking ``or 
divorced wife'' in the second sentence.

SEC. 2003. CONTINUED PAYMENT TO SURVIVORS OF WAIVED LUMP SUM BENEFITS 
              IN AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO SOCIAL SECURITY SURVIVOR 
              BENEFITS.

    Section 6(c)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 is amended 
by striking all that follows ``Provided, however,'' and inserting the 
following: ``That if the employee is survived by a widow, widower, or 
parent who may upon attaining the age of eligibility be entitled to 
benefits under this Act, such lump sum shall not be paid unless such 
widow, widower, or parent makes and files with the Board an irrevocable 
election, in such form as the Board may prescribe, to have such lump 
sum be paid in lieu of all benefits, other than the amount of the 
benefits that the widow, widower, or parent would have received under 
title II of the Social Security Act if all of the employee's service 
after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term `employment' as 
defined in that Act. After a lump sum with respect to the death of an 
employee is paid pursuant to an election filed with the Board under the 
provisions of this subsection, no further benefits, other than benefits 
in such amounts as would have been payable under title II of the Social 
Security Act if all of the employee's service after December 31, 1936, 
had been included in the term `employment' as defined in that Act, 
shall be paid under this Act on the basis of such employee's 
compensation and service under this Act.''.

SEC. 2004. LUMP SUM DEATH BENEFITS EQUIVALENT TO SOCIAL SECURITY 
              BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--Section 6(b)(2) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 
1974 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(2) Upon the death of an individual who (A) will have completed 
ten years of service at the time of his death, and (B) will have had a 
current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his death, 
a lump-sum death payment shall be made in accordance with the 
provisions of section 202(i) of the Social Security Act in an amount 
equal to the amount which would have been payable under such section 
202(i) if such individual's service as an employee after December 31, 
1936, were included in the term `employment' as defined in that Act.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 6(b)(1) of such Act is amended 
by inserting before the period at the end of the first sentence the 
following: ``less any lump-sum benefit payable under subdivision (2) of 
this subsection''.

SEC. 2005. PAYMENT OF BENEFITS EQUIVALENT TO SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS 
              WITH RESPECT TO SERVICE FOR WHICH CERTAIN RAILROAD 
              RETIREMENT ANNUITIES ARE NOT PAYABLE.

    Section 2(e) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subdivision:
    ``(6) A person who has filed an application for an annuity under 
this Act, but whose annuity is not payable for a month by reason of 
subdivision (1), (3), or (5) of this subsection and who is entitled to 
a benefit under title II of the Social Security Act for such month 
shall be entitled to receive an annuity under this Act for such month 
equal to the difference between the benefit under such title II paid 
for such month and the benefit under such title II that would have been 
paid for such month if all of the individual's service after December 
31, 1936, had been included in the term `employment' as defined in that 
Act.''.

SEC. 2006. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this title shall take effect on January 1, 
1997.
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