[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 545 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 545
To allow penalty-free distributions from retirement accounts in the
case of Federal employees and certain Federal contractors impacted by
the Federal Government shutdown.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 15, 2019
Mr. Olson (for himself, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Weber of Texas,
Mr. McKinley, Mr. Trone, Ms. Kendra S. Horn of Oklahoma, Mr. Allred,
Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Babin, and Mr. Gaetz)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and
Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow penalty-free distributions from retirement accounts in the
case of Federal employees and certain Federal contractors impacted by
the Federal Government shutdown.
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 ``Financial Relief for Feds Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. TAX-FAVORED WITHDRAWALS FROM RETIREMENT PLANS.
(a) In General.--Section 72(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
shall not apply to any Federal Government shutdown distribution.
(b) Aggregate Dollar Limitation.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of this subsection, the
aggregate amount of distributions received by an individual
which may be treated as Federal Government shutdown
distributions for any taxable year, and with respect to any
Federal appropriations lapse, shall not exceed the excess (if
any) of--
(A) the applicable amount, over
(B) the aggregate amounts treated as Federal
Government shutdown distributions received by such
individual with respect to such Federal appropriations
lapse.
(2) Applicable amount.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the
applicable amount with respect to an individual is an amount
equal to--
(A) $4,000, multiplied by
(B) the number of 14-day periods beginning during
any Federal appropriations lapse with respect to such
individual.
(3) Treatment of plan distributions.--
(A) In general.--If a distribution to an individual
would (without regard to paragraph (1)) be a Federal
Government shutdown distribution, a plan shall not be
treated as violating any provision of law merely
because the plan treats such distribution as a Federal
Government shutdown distribution, unless the aggregate
amount of such distributions from all plans maintained
by the employer (and any member of any controlled group
which includes the employer) to such individual exceeds
the applicable amount with respect to such individual.
(B) No tsp conditions on contributions or
distributions.--In the case of the Thrift Savings Fund,
no limit on the number of distributions made to an
individual, or on the amount of contributions which may
be made by such individual, shall be imposed solely by
reason of a distribution which is a Federal Government
shutdown distribution.
(4) Controlled group.--For purposes of paragraph (3), the
term ``controlled group'' means any group treated as a single
employer under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) Amount Distributed May Be Repaid.--
(1) In general.--Any individual who receives a Federal
Government shutdown distribution may, at any time during the 3-
year period beginning on the day after the date on which such
distribution was received, make 1 or more contributions in an
aggregate amount not to exceed the amount of such distribution
to an eligible retirement plan of which such individual is a
beneficiary and to which a rollover contribution of such
distribution could be made under section 402(c), 403(a)(4),
403(b)(8), 408(d)(3), or 457(e)(16), of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as the case may be.
(2) Treatment of repayments of distributions from eligible
retirement plans other than iras.--For purposes of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, if a contribution is made pursuant to
paragraph (1) with respect to a Federal Government shutdown
distribution from an eligible retirement plan other than an
individual retirement plan, then the taxpayer shall, to the
extent of the amount of the contribution, be treated as having
received the Federal Government shutdown distribution in an
eligible rollover distribution (as defined in section 402(c)(4)
of such Code) and as having transferred the amount to the
eligible retirement plan in a direct trustee to trustee
transfer within 60 days of the distribution.
(3) Treatment of repayments of distributions from iras.--
For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, if a
contribution is made pursuant to paragraph (1) with respect to
a Federal Government shutdown distribution from an individual
retirement plan (as defined by section 7701(a)(37) of such
Code), then, to the extent of the amount of the contribution,
the Federal Government shutdown distribution shall be treated
as a distribution described in section 408(d)(3) of such Code
and as having been transferred to the eligible retirement plan
in a direct trustee to trustee transfer within 60 days of the
distribution.
(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
(1) Federal government shutdown distribution.--The term
``Federal Government shutdown distribution'' means any
distribution by an applicable individual from an eligible
retirement plan made during a Federal appropriations lapse with
respect to such individual.
(2) Applicable individual.--The term ``applicable
individual'' means any individual--
(A) who is a Federal employee furloughed due to a
Federal appropriations lapse;
(B) who is placed on unpaid leave as a Federal
contractor, or as an employee of a Federal contractor,
due to a Federal appropriations lapse, and whose sole
source of earned income (as defined in section 32(c)(2)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) would (but for
such lapse) be remuneration as such a contractor, or
employee thereof;
(C) who is an employee of a State or other Federal
grantee--
(i) whose compensation is advanced or
reimbursed in whole or in part by the Federal
Government; and
(ii) who is furloughed due to a Federal
appropriations lapse; or
(D) who is furloughed due to a Federal
appropriations lapse as an employee of the District of
Columbia Courts, the Public Defender Service for the
District of Columbia, or the District of Columbia
government.
Such term shall include any excepted employee or an employee
performing emergency work, as such terms are defined by the
Office of Personnel Management or the appropriate District of
Columbia public employer, as applicable, during a Federal
appropriations lapse.
(3) Federal appropriation lapse.--
(A) In general.--The term ``Federal appropriations
lapse'' means any continuous period during which there
is a lapse in Federal appropriations.
(B) Period of lapse.--A period of lapse in Federal
appropriations shall not be a Federal appropriations
lapse with respect to an individual for longer than the
period during which the individual is furloughed (or on
unpaid leave in the case of an individual described in
paragraph (2)(B)) due to such lapse.
(4) Eligible retirement plan.--The term ``eligible
retirement plan'' shall have the meaning given such term by
section 402(c)(8)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(e) Income Inclusion Spread Over 3-Year Period.--
(1) In general.--In the case of any Federal Government
shutdown distribution, unless the taxpayer elects not to have
this paragraph apply for any taxable year, any amount required
to be included in gross income for such taxable year shall be
so included ratably over the 3-taxable-year period beginning
with such taxable year.
(2) Special rule.--For purposes of paragraph (1), rules
similar to the rules of subparagraph (E) of section 408A(d)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall apply.
(f) Special Rules.--
(1) Exemption of distributions from trustee to trustee
transfer and withholding rules.--For purposes of sections
401(a)(31), 402(f), and 3405 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, Federal Government shutdown distributions shall not be
treated as eligible rollover distributions.
(2) Federal government shutdown distributions treated as
meeting plan distribution requirements.--For purposes the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, a Federal Government shutdown
distribution shall be treated as meeting the requirements of
sections 401(k)(2)(B)(i), 403(b)(7)(A)(ii), 403(b)(11), and
457(d)(1)(A) of such Code.
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