[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6706 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6706

  To provide for enhanced retirement benefits for administrative law 
                                judges.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2008

  Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Shays, Mr. Gordon of Tennessee, Mr. 
    Goode, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
 Andrews, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Butterfield, and Mr. Cummings) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                    Oversight and 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 2008''.
    (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 (30), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (31), by striking the period and inserting 
        a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(32) `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 customs and 
        border protection officer,'' and inserting ``customs and border 
        protection officer, 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
                                                         2008.
                                                    8   The effective date of the Administrative Law Judges
                                                         Retirement Act of 2008 and thereafter.''.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (c) Immediate Retirement.--
            (1) In general.--Section 8336 is amended by adding at the 
        end the following:
    ``(q) An employee who is separated from the service after 
completing 10 years of service as an administrative law judge and 
becoming 60 years of age is entitled to an annuity. An employee who is 
separated from the service voluntarily after completing 10 years of 
service as an administrative law judge but before becoming 60 years of 
age is entitled to a reduced annuity.''.
            (2) Discontinued service or early voluntary retirement.--
        Section 8336(d) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
        ``In the case of an administrative law judge, the preceding 
        provisions of this subsection shall be applied by treating any 
        reference in such provisions to removal or separation for 
        `misconduct or delinquency' or for `misconduct or unacceptable 
        performance' to refer to 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 subsection (h), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``The annuity computed under subsections (f) and (v) for a 
        employee retiring under the second sentence of section 8336(q) 
        is reduced by \1/12\ of 1 percent for each full month not in 
        excess of 60 months, and \1/6\ of 1 percent for each full month 
        in excess of 60 months, the employee is under 60 years of age 
        at the date of separation.'';
            (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 subsection (a), except, if the employee has had at least 
5 years' service as an administrative law judge, the employee's annuity 
is computed with respect to--
            ``(1) such employee's service as an administrative law 
        judge; and
            ``(2) such employee's military service not exceeding 5 
        years;
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 (35), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (36), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(37) `administrative law judge' means an administrative 
        law judge appointed under section 3105 or a similar prior 
        provision of law.''.
    (b) Early Retirement.--Section 8414(b) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(4) In the case of an administrative law judge, the preceding 
provisions of this subsection shall be applied by treating any 
reference in such provisions to removal or separation for `misconduct 
or delinquency' or for `misconduct or unacceptable performance' to 
refer to removal under section 1215, 7521, or 7532.''.
    (c) Computation of Annuity.--Section 8415 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (h)(2), by striking ``or customs and 
        border protection officer'' and inserting ``customs and border 
        protection officer, or administrative law judge.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) The annuity of an administrative law judge, or a former 
administrative law judge, retiring under this subchapter is computed 
under subsection (a), except that if the individual has had at least 5 
years of service as an administrative law judge, so much of the annuity 
as is computed with respect to such type of service, not exceeding a 
total of 20 years, shall be computed by multiplying 1\7/10\ percent of 
such employee's average pay by the years of that service.''.
    (d) Deductions From Pay.--Section 8422(a)(3) is amended by adding 
after the item relating to a customs and border protection officer 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
                                                         2008.
                                                    8   The effective date of the Administrative Law Judges
                                                         Retirement Act of 2008 and thereafter.''.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (e) 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.

    (a) In General.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act--
            (1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
        Act; and
            (2) except as provided in subsection (b), shall apply only 
        with respect to administrative law judges first appointed on or 
        after the effective date of this Act.
    (b) Exception.--
            (1) Election for incumbents.--The amendments made by this 
        Act shall apply with respect to any individual serving as an 
        administrative law judge on the effective date of this Act if 
        appropriate written application is submitted to the Office of 
        Personnel Management within 12 months after such effective 
        date.
            (2) Treatment of prior service.--
                    (A) Deposit requirement.--An individual who makes 
                an election under paragraph (1) shall, with respect to 
                any administrative law judge service performed by such 
                individual prior to the date as of which deductions 
                from such individual's pay begin to be made in 
                accordance with the amendments made by this Act, be 
                required to pay into the Civil Service Retirement and 
                Disability Fund an amount equal to the difference 
                between--
                            (i) the unrefunded individual contributions 
                        that were made for such prior service; and
                            (ii) the individual contributions that 
                        would have been required if the rate (or rates) 
                        in effect for such prior service had been equal 
                        to the rate (or rates) actually in effect for 
                        such prior service, increased by 1 percentage 
                        point.
                    (B) Effect of not making deposit.--If or to the 
                extent that any amounts under subparagraph (A) are not 
                paid by an individual making an election under 
                paragraph (1), any annuity based on the service of such 
                individual--
                            (i) shall be computed in accordance with 
                        the amendments made by this Act; but
                            (ii) shall be reduced in a manner similar 
                        to that set forth in section 8334(d)(2)(B) of 
                        title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Survivor annuitants.--In the case of an individual 
        described in paragraph (1) who dies before the end of the 12-
        month period beginning on the effective date of this Act, any 
        application or deposit under this subsection may, for purposes 
        of any survivor annuity based on the service of such 
        individual, also be made by a survivor of such individual.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``administrative law judge'' means an administrative law judge 
appointed under section 3105 of title 5, United States Code, or a 
similar prior provision of law.
    (d) Regulations.--The Office of Personnel Management may prescribe 
any regulations necessary to carry out this section.
                                 <all>