[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1864 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1864

  To provide for enhanced retirement benefits for administrative law 
                                judges.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2005

   Mr. Wynn introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for enhanced retirement benefits for administrative law 
                                judges.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Administrative Law 
Judges Retirement Act of 2005''.
    (b) References.--Whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed in 
terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 
5, United States Code.

SEC. 2. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

    (a) Definition.--Section 8331 is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (28), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in the first paragraph (29), by striking the period and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (3) in the second paragraph (29)--
                    (A) by striking ``(29)'' and inserting ``(30)''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking the period and inserting ``; and''; 
                and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(31) `administrative law judge' means an administrative 
        law judge appointed under section 3105 or a similar prior 
        provision of law.''.
    (b) Deductions, Contributions, and Deposits.--Section 8334 is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ``or nuclear 
        materials courier,'' and inserting ``nuclear materials courier, 
        or administrative law judge,'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(1)(B)--
                    (A) in the first sentence of clause (i), by 
                striking ``clause (ii),'' and inserting ``clause (ii) 
                or (iii),''; and
                    (B) by adding after clause (ii) the following:
    ``(iii) In the case of an administrative law judge, the amount to 
be contributed under this subparagraph shall (instead of the amount 
described in clause (i)) be equal to the amount derived by multiplying 
the administrative law judge's basic pay by the percentage that is 1 
percentage point less than the percentage applicable under subsection 
(c).''; and
            (3) in subsection (c), by adding after the item relating to 
        a nuclear materials courier the following:


``Administrative law judge..............  5......................  June 11, 1947, to June 30, 1948.
                                          6......................  July 1, 1948, to October 31, 1956.
                                          6.5....................  November 1, 1956, to December 31, 1969.
                                          7......................  January 1, 1970, to December 31, 1998.
                                          7.25...................  January 1, 1999, to December 31, 1999.
                                          7.4....................  January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2000.
                                          7......................  January 1, 2001, to (but not including) the
                                                                    effective date of the Administrative Law
                                                                    Judges Retirement Act of 2005.
                                          8......................  The effective date of the Administrative Law
                                                                    Judges Retirement Act of 2005 and
                                                                    thereafter.''.
 

    (c) Immediate Retirement.--Section 8336 is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(q) An administrative law judge who is separated from the service 
after completing 10 years of service as an administrative law judge and 
becoming 55 years of age is entitled to an annuity. An administrative 
law judge who is separated from the service voluntarily after 
completing 10 years of service as an administrative law judge but 
before becoming 55 years of age is entitled to a reduced annuity. An 
administrative law judge is entitled to an annuity if such judge would 
be entitled to an annuity under subsection (d) if such subsection were 
applied by substituting `5' for `25 years of service or after becoming 
50 years of age and completing 20', and the reference to `removal for 
cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency' in paragraph (1) thereof 
were considered to refer to a removal under section 1215, 7521, or 
7532.''.
    (d) Computation of Annuity.--Section 8339 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (f), by striking ``(r), and (s)'' and 
        inserting ``(r), (s), and (v)'';
            (2) in the first sentence of subsection (h), by striking 
        ``subsections (a), (b), (d)(5), and (f)'' and all that follows 
        through ``(h), (j), or (o) of this title'' and inserting 
        ``subsections (a), (b), (d)(5), (f), and (v) for an employee 
        retiring under subsection (d), (h), (j), or (o), or the second 
        sentence of subsection (q), of section 8336'';
            (3) in subsection (i), by striking ``(r), or (s)'' and 
        inserting ``(r), (s), or (v)''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(v) The annuity of an employee retiring under section 8336(q) is 
computed under such provisions of this section as would (but for this 
subsection) otherwise apply, except that, with respect to such 
employee's--
            ``(1) service as an administrative law judge, and
            ``(2) military service not exceeding 5 years,
such employee's annuity is computed by multiplying 2\1/2\ percent of 
such employee's average pay by the years of that service.''.
    (e) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--(1) Sections 8337(a) and 
8339(g) are amended by striking ``or (s)'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``(s), or (v)''.
    (2) Subsections (j), (k)(1), (l), and (m) of section 8339, 
subsections (b)(1) and (d) of section 8341, section 8343a(c), and 
section 8344(a)(A) are amended by striking ``and (s)'' each place it 
appears and inserting ``(s), and (v)''.
    (3) Subsections (j)(3) (in the third sentence before the sentence 
containing subparagraph (A)), (j)(5)(C)(iii), and (k)(2)(C) of section 
8339 are amended by striking ``and (r)'' and inserting ``(r), and 
(v)''.
    (4) Section 8335(a) is amended by striking ``8331(29)(A)'' and 
inserting ``8331(30)(A)''.

SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT 
              SYSTEM.

    (a) Definition.--Section 8401 is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (34), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (35), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(36) `administrative law judge' means an administrative 
        law judge appointed under section 3105 or a similar prior 
        provision of law.''.
    (b) Immediate Retirement.--Section 8412 is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(i) An administrative law judge who is separated from the service 
after completing 10 years of service as an administrative law judge and 
becoming 55 years of age is entitled to an annuity.''.
    (c) Early Retirement.--Section 8414 is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(e) An administrative law judge who is separated from the service 
voluntarily after completing 10 years of service as an administrative 
law judge but before becoming 55 years of age is entitled to a reduced 
annuity. An administrative law judge is entitled to an annuity if such 
judge would be entitled to an annuity under subsection (b) if such 
subsection were applied by substituting `5 years of service' for `25 
years of service, or after becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 
years of service,', and the reference to `removal for cause on charges 
of misconduct or delinquency' in paragraph (1)(A) thereof were 
considered to refer to a removal under section 1215, 7521, or 7532.''.
    (d) Computation of Annuity.--Section 8415 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (h)(2), by striking ``or air traffic 
        controller.'' and inserting ``air traffic controller, or 
        administrative law judge (with respect to any service as to 
        which the percentage set forth in the first sentence of 
        subsection (n) applies).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) The annuity of an employee retiring under section 8412(i) or 
8414(e) is computed under such provisions of this section as would (but 
for this subsection) otherwise apply, except that, with respect to such 
employee's--
            ``(1) service as an administrative law judge, and
            ``(2) military service not exceeding 5 years,
such employee's annuity is computed by multiplying 1\7/10\ percent of 
such employee's average pay by the years of that service. The annuity 
computed under this section for an employee retiring under the first 
sentence of section 8414(e) is reduced by \1/6\ of 1 percent for each 
full month the employee is under 55 years of age at the date of 
separation.''.
    (e) Deductions From Pay.--Section 8422(a)(3) is amended by adding 
after the item relating to a nuclear materials courier the following:


``Administrative law judge..............  7......................  January 1, 1987, to December 31, 1998.
                                          7.25...................  January 1, 1999, to December 31, 1999.
                                          7.4....................  January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2000.
                                          7......................  January 1, 2001, to (but not including) the
                                                                    effective date of the Administrative Law
                                                                    Judges Retirement Act of 2005.
                                          8......................  The effective date of the Administrative Law
                                                                    Judges Retirement Act of 2005 and
                                                                    thereafter.''.
 

    (f) Government Contributions.--Section 8423 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B)(i), by striking ``and employees 
        under sections 302 and 303 of the Central Intelligence Agency 
        Retirement Act, multiplied by'' and inserting ``employees under 
        sections 302 and 303 of the Central Intelligence Agency 
        Retirement Act, and administrative law judges, multiplied by'';
            (2) by amending paragraph (2) of subsection (a) to read as 
        follows:
    ``(2) In determining any normal-cost percentage to be applied under 
this subsection--
            ``(A) amounts provided for under section 8422 shall be 
        taken into account; and
            ``(B) amounts provided by or for administrative law judges 
        under subchapter III of chapter 83 (including sections 8334 and 
        8348, and whether provided before, on, or after the effective 
        date of this subparagraph) shall, to the extent they exceed the 
        normal cost of the benefits which are (i) provided for under 
        subchapter III of chapter 83, and (ii) attributable to service 
        performed as an administrative law judge (within the meaning of 
        such subchapter), be taken into account as if they had been 
        provided by or for administrative law judges under this 
        chapter.''; and
            (3) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by inserting ``administrative 
        law judges,'' after ``military reserve technicians,'' each 
        place it appears.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    (a) Effective Date.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act 
shall take effect as of the first day of the first pay period beginning 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Applicability.--Nothing in this Act shall be considered to 
apply with respect to any annuity entitlement to which is based on a 
separation from service occurring before the effective date of this 
Act.
                                 <all>