[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2455 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2455

 To amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to prevent the canceling 
of annuities to certain divorced spouses of workers whose widows elect 
                     to receive lump sum payments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 1998

  Mr. Daschle 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 prevent the canceling 
of annuities to certain divorced spouses of workers whose widows elect 
                     to receive lump sum payments.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Railroad Retirement Amendment Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF DIVORCED SPOUSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 6(c) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 
1974 (45 U.S.C. 231e(c)) is amended--
            (1) in the last sentence of paragraph (1), by inserting 
        ``(other than to a survivor in the circumstances described in 
        paragraph (3))'' after ``no further benefits shall be paid''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Notwithstanding the last sentence of paragraph (1), 
        benefits shall be paid to a survivor who--
                    ``(A) is a divorced wife; and
                    ``(B) through administrative error received 
                benefits otherwise precluded by the making of a lump 
                sum payment under this section to a widow;
        if that divorced wife makes an election to repay to the Board 
        the lump sum payment. The Board may withhold up to 10 percent 
        of each benefit amount paid after the date of the enactment of 
        this paragraph toward such reimbursement. The Board may waive 
        such repayment to the extent the Board determines it would 
        cause an unjust financial hardship for the beneficiary.''.
    (b) Application of Amendment.--The amendment made by this section 
shall apply with respect to any benefits paid before the date of 
enactment of this Act as well as to benefits payable on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
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