[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1820 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1820

 To amend title 5 of the United States Code 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 Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5 of the United States Code 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--ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT PARTICIPATION AND PAYMENT OPTIONS FOR 
                           FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

Sec. 2001. Immediate participation in the Thrift Savings Plan for 
                            Federal employees.
Sec. 2002. Deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal 
                            employees.
Sec. 2003. Payment of lump-sum credit for former spouses of Federal 
                            employees.

 TITLE II--ADDITIONAL RETIREMENT PARTICIPATION AND PAYMENT OPTIONS FOR 
                           FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

SEC. 2001. IMMEDIATE PARTICIPATION IN THE THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN FOR 
              FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.

    (a) Elimination of Certain Waiting Periods for Purposes of Employee 
Contributions.--Paragraph (4) of section 8432(b) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(4) The Executive Director shall prescribe such regulations as 
may be necessary to carry out the following:
            ``(A) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2), an 
        employee or Member described in such subparagraph shall be 
        afforded a reasonable opportunity to first make an election 
        under this subsection beginning on the date of commencing 
        service or, if that is not administratively feasible, beginning 
        on the earliest date thereafter that such an election becomes 
        administratively feasible, as determined by the Executive 
        Director.
            ``(B) An employee or Member described in subparagraph (B) 
        of paragraph (2) shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to 
        first make an election under this subsection (based on the 
        appointment or election described in such subparagraph) 
        beginning on the date of commencing service pursuant to such 
        appointment or election or, if that is not administratively 
        feasible, beginning on the earliest date thereafter that such 
        an election becomes administratively feasible, as determined by 
        the Executive Director.
            ``(C) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this 
        paragraph, contributions under paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
        subsection (c) shall not be payable with respect to any pay 
        period before the earliest pay period for which such 
        contributions would otherwise be allowable under this 
        subsection if this paragraph had not been enacted.
            ``(D) Sections 8351(a)(2), 8440a(a)(2), 8440b(a)(2), 
        8440c(a)(2), and 8440d(a)(2) shall be applied in a manner 
        consistent with the purposes of subparagraphs (A) and (B), to 
        the extent those subparagraphs can be applied with respect 
        thereto.
            ``(E) Nothing in this paragraph shall affect paragraph 
        (3).''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 8432(a) of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (A) in the first sentence by striking ``(b)(1)'' and 
        inserting ``(b)''; and
            (B) by amending the second sentence to read as follows: 
        ``Contributions under this subsection pursuant to such an 
        election shall, with respect to each pay period for which such 
        election remains in effect, be made in accordance with a 
        program of regular contributions provided in regulations 
        prescribed by the Executive Director.''.
    (2) Section 8432(b)(1)(B) of such title is amended by inserting 
``(or any election allowable by virtue of paragraph (4))'' after 
``subparagraph (A)''.
    (3) Section 8432(b)(3) of such title is amended by striking 
``Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(A), an'' and inserting ``An''.
    (4) Section 8432(i)(1)(B)(ii) of such title is amended by striking 
``either elected to terminate individual contributions to the Thrift 
Savings Fund within 2 months before commencing military service or''.
    (5) Section 8439(a)(1) of such title is amended by inserting ``who 
makes contributions or'' after ``for each individual'' and by striking 
``section 8432(c)(1)'' and inserting ``section 8432''.
    (6) Section 8439(c)(2) of such title is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ``Nothing in this paragraph shall be considered to 
limit the dissemination of information only to the times required under 
the preceding sentence.''.
    (7) Sections 8440a(a)(2) and 8440d(a)(2) of such title are amended 
by striking all after ``subject to'' and inserting ``subject to this 
chapter.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act or such earlier date as the 
Executive Director may by regulation prescribe.

SEC. 2002. DEFERRED ANNUITIES FOR SURVIVING SPOUSES OF FEDERAL 
              EMPLOYEES.

    (a) In General.--Section 8341 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (h)(1) by striking ``section 8338(b) of 
        this title'' and inserting ``section 8338(b), and a former 
        spouse of a deceased former employee who separated from the 
        service with title to a deferred annuity under section 8338 (if 
        they were married to one another prior to the date of 
        separation),''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j)(1) If a former employee dies after having separated from the 
service with title to a deferred annuity under section 8338 but before 
having established a valid claim for annuity, and is survived by a 
spouse to whom married on the date of separation, the surviving spouse 
may elect to receive--
            ``(A) an annuity, commencing on what would have been the 
        former employee's 62d birthday, equal to 55 percent of the 
        former employee's deferred annuity;
            ``(B) an annuity, commencing on the day after the date of 
        death of the former employee, such that, to the extent 
        practicable, the present value of the future payments of the 
        annuity would be actuarially equivalent to the present value of 
        the future payments under subparagraph (A) as of the day after 
        the former employee's death; or
            ``(C) the lump-sum credit, if the surviving spouse is the 
        individual who would be entitled to the lump-sum credit and if 
        such surviving spouse files application therefor.
    ``(2) An annuity under this subsection and the right thereto 
terminate on the last day of the month before the surviving spouse 
remarries before becoming 55 years of age, or dies.''.
    (b) Corresponding Amendment for FERS.--Section 8445(a) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(or of a former employee or'' and 
        inserting ``(or of a former''; and
            (2) by striking ``annuity)'' and inserting ``annuity, or of 
        a former employee who dies after having separated from the 
        service with title to a deferred annuity under section 8413 but 
        before having established a valid claim for annuity (if such 
        former spouse was married to such former employee prior to the 
        date of separation))''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to surviving spouses and former spouses (whose 
marriage, in the case of the amendments made by subsection (a), 
terminated after May 6, 1985) of former employees who die after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 2003. PAYMENT OF LUMP-SUM CREDIT FOR FORMER SPOUSES OF FEDERAL 
              EMPLOYEES.

    (a) In General.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 8342(c) by striking ``Lump-sum'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in section 8345(j), lump-sum'';
            (2) in section 8345(j)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting after ``that 
                individual'' the following: ``, or be made under 
                section 8342(d) through (f) to an individual entitled 
                under section 8342(c),''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(4) Any payment under this subsection to a person bars recovery 
by any other person.'';
            (3) in section 8424(d) by striking ``Lump-sum'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in section 8467(a), lump-sum''; 
        and
            (4) in section 8467--
                    (A) in subsection (a) by inserting after ``that 
                individual'' the following: ``, or be made under 
                section 8424(e) through (g) to an individual entitled 
                under section 8424(d),''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Any payment under this section to a person bars recovery by 
any other person.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to any death occurring after the 90th day after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>