[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 442 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 442

 To provide pay protection for members of the Reserve and the National 
                     Guard, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 2003

 Ms. Landrieu introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide pay protection for members of the Reserve and the National 
                     Guard, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Reservists and Guardsmen Pay 
Protection Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. NONREDUCTION IN PAY WHILE FEDERAL EMPLOYEE IS PERFORMING ACTIVE 
              SERVICE IN THE UNIFORMED SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter IV of chapter 55 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the uniformed 
              services
    ``(a) An employee who is absent from a position of employment with 
the Federal Government in order to perform service in the uniformed 
services shall be entitled to receive, for each pay period described in 
subsection (b), an amount equal to the amount by which--
            ``(1) the amount of basic pay which would otherwise have 
        been payable to such employee for such pay period if such 
        employee's civilian employment with the Government had not been 
        interrupted by that service, exceeds (if at all)
            ``(2) the amount of pay and allowances which (as determined 
        under subsection (d))--
                    ``(A) is payable to such employee for that service; 
                and
                    ``(B) is allocable to such pay period.
    ``(b)(1) Amounts under this section shall be payable with respect 
to each pay period (which would otherwise apply if the employee's 
civilian employment had not been interrupted)--
            ``(A) during which such employee is entitled to 
        reemployment rights under chapter 43 of title 38 with respect 
        to the position from which such employee is absent (as referred 
        to in subsection (a)); and
            ``(B) for which such employee does not otherwise receive 
        basic pay (including by taking any annual, military, or other 
        paid leave) to which such employee is entitled by virtue of 
        such employee's civilian employment with the Government.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, the period during which an 
employee is entitled to reemployment rights under chapter 43 of title 
38--
            ``(A) shall be determined disregarding the provisions of 
        section 4312(d) of title 38; and
            ``(B) shall include any period of time specified in section 
        4312(e) of title 38 within which an employee may report or 
        apply for employment or reemployment following completion of 
        service in the uniformed services.
    ``(c) Any amount payable under this section to an employee shall be 
paid--
            ``(1) by such employee's employing agency;
            ``(2) from the appropriation or fund which would be used to 
        pay the employee if such employee were in a pay status; and
            ``(3) to the extent practicable, at the same time and in 
        the same manner as would basic pay if such employee's civilian 
        employment had not been interrupted.
    ``(d) The Office of Personnel Management shall, in consultation 
with Secretary of Defense, prescribe any regulations necessary to carry 
out the preceding provisions of this section.
    ``(e)(1) The head of each agency referred to in section 
2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) shall, in consultation with the Office, prescribe 
procedures to ensure that the rights under this section apply to the 
employees of such agency.
    ``(2) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
shall, in consultation with the Office, prescribe procedures to ensure 
that the rights under this section apply to the employees of that 
agency.
    ``(f) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the terms `employee', `Federal Government', and 
        `uniformed services' have the same respective meanings as given 
        in section 4303 of title 38;
            ``(2) the term `service in the uniformed services' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 4303 of title 38 and 
        includes duty performed by a member of the National Guard under 
        section 502(f) of title 32 at the direction of the Secretary of 
        the Army or Secretary of the Air Force;
            ``(3) the term `employing agency', as used with respect to 
        an employee entitled to any payments under this section, means 
the agency or other entity of the Government (including an agency 
referred to in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)) with respect to which such 
employee has reemployment rights under chapter 43 of title 38; and
            ``(4) the term `basic pay' includes any amount payable 
        under section 5304.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 55 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 5537 the following:

``5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the uniformed services or 
                            National Guard.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to pay periods (as described in section 5538(b) of 
title 5, United States Code, as added by this section) beginning on or 
after September 11, 2001.

SEC. 3. READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EMPLOYEE CREDIT ADDED TO GENERAL 
              BUSINESS CREDIT.

    (a) Ready Reserve-National Guard Credit.--Subpart D of part IV of 
subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to business-related credits) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 45G. READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EMPLOYEE CREDIT.

    ``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of section 38, the Ready Reserve-
National Guard employee credit determined under this section for any 
taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent of the actual 
compensation amount for such taxable year.
    ``(b) Definition of Actual Compensation Amount.--For purposes of 
this section, the term `actual compensation amount' means the amount of 
compensation paid or incurred by an employer with respect to a Ready 
Reserve-National Guard employee on any day during a taxable year when 
the employee was absent from employment for the purpose of performing 
qualified active duty.
    ``(c) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Maximum period for credit per employee.--The maximum 
        period with respect to which the credit may be allowed with 
        respect to any Ready Reserve-National Guard employee shall not 
        exceed the 12-month period beginning on the first day such 
        credit is so allowed with respect to such employee.
            ``(2) Days other than work days.--No credit shall be 
        allowed with respect to a Ready Reserve-National Guard employee 
        who performs qualified active duty on any day on which the 
        employee was not scheduled to work (for reason other than to 
        participate in qualified active duty).
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified active duty.--The term `qualified active 
        duty' means--
                    ``(A) active duty, other than the training duty 
                specified in section 10147 of title 10, United States 
                Code (relating to training requirements for the Ready 
                Reserve), or section 502(a) of title 32, United States 
                Code (relating to required drills and field exercises 
                for the National Guard), in connection with which an 
                employee is entitled to reemployment rights and other 
                benefits or to a leave of absence from employment under 
                chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, and
                    ``(B) hospitalization incident to such duty.
            ``(2) Compensation.--The term `compensation' means any 
        remuneration for employment, whether in cash or in kind, which 
        is paid or incurred by a taxpayer and which is deductible from 
        the taxpayer's gross income under section 162(a)(1).
            ``(3) Ready reserve-national guard employee.--The term 
        `Ready Reserve-National Guard employee' means an employee who 
        is a member of the Ready Reserve or of the National Guard.
            ``(4) National guard.--The term `National Guard' has the 
        meaning given such term by section 101(c)(1) of title 10, 
        United States Code.
            ``(5) Ready reserve.--The term `Ready Reserve' has the 
        meaning given such term by section 10142 of title 10, United 
        States Code.''.
    (b) Credit To Be Part of General Business Credit.--Subsection (b) 
of section 38 of such Code (relating to general business credit) is 
amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (14), by striking 
the period at the end of paragraph (15) and inserting ``, plus'', and 
by adding at the end the following:
            ``(16) the Ready Reserve-National Guard employee credit 
        determined under section 45G(a).''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 45F the 
following:

                              ``Sec. 45G. Ready Reserve-National Guard 
                                        employee credit.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
                                 <all>