[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 78 (Wednesday, May 20, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5723-S5724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Hatch):
  S. 1107. A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for 
a limited 6-month period for Federal judges to opt into the Judicial 
Survivor' Annuities System and begin contributing toward an annuity for 
their spouse and dependent children upon their death, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill, together 
with my Republican colleague Senator Orrin Hatch, that will help the 
financial security of Federal judges and their families. It will do so 
without costing the Federal Government a penny.
  Our bill, the Judicial Survivors Protection Act of 2009, will create 
an open season for active and senior federal judges to enroll in the 
Judicial Survivors' Annuities System, JSAS, if they are not currently 
enrolled. JSAS provides an annuity for the surviving spouses and 
dependent children of a deceased federal judge. Depending on the 
judge's length of service, the annuity for a surviving spouse can be as 
high as 50 percent of the judge's average annual salary, and the 
annuity for surviving dependent children can be as high as 20 percent.
  In addition, our bill would provide an important health insurance 
benefit for the surviving family members of decease Federal judges. For 
a surviving spouse or dependent child to continue to receive health 
insurance coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefit, FEHB, 
program after the judge's death, the judge must have been enrolled in 
JSAS. Otherwise, they can no longer participate in FEHB.
  Federal judges have only 6 months from the date of their appointment 
to sign up for JSAS and, for a variety of reasons, many do not do so. 
For example, many individuals take substantial pay cuts when they leave 
a law firm to become a Federal judge, and they are unable to afford 
JSAS contributions, which amount to a 2.2 percent of a judge's annual 
salary. Nearly 900 federal judges, representing about 40 percent of the 
federal judiciary, currently do not participate in JSAS. However, if 
given the opportunity, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts 
estimates between 200 and 300 judges would sign up.
  Take, for example, the case of Judge Michael Mihm, who is a federal 
judge in the Central District of Illinois, my home State. Judge Mihm 
wrote a letter and said:

       In 1982, when I came on the bench, the survivor's pension 
     (JSAS) was so bad that almost no incoming judge signed up for 
     it. Plus, the percentage of salary involved was very high. So 
     I didn't sign up for it then. In the early 90s I was a member 
     of the Judicial Branch Committee, and at that time the 
     Committee and the judiciary succeeded in getting a bill 
     passed that improved the benefits (established a 25% floor) 
     and the percentage of salary paid. There was an open season. 
     That would have been the time to join. However, at that time 
     I had four children attending private universities . . . I 
     simply couldn't afford to bring home a smaller paycheck. I 
     have for some time now been very interested in `buying in' to 
     the survivor's pension, that is, pay in everything I would 
     have paid in if I had joined during the open season, plus a 
     penalty amount for waiting until now to join.

  I also received a letter from U.S. District Court Judge Robert 
Gettleman in the Northern District of Illinois, who said: ``Especially 
given the circumstances of our current economic crisis, providing for 
my family in the event of a death is of urgent importance to me. I 
think I speak for many of those in my circumstance that I am happy to 
make a make-up payment and contribute a greater share of my income to 
participate in this program.''
  The bill that Senator Hatch and I are introducing would allow Judge 
Mihm, Judge Gettleman, and the hundreds of other nonparticipating 
federal judges around the country to pay a penalty and buy into the 
JSAS program. Such judges would be required to pay an enhanced 
contribution rate of 2.75 percent of their salary each year rather than 
the 2.2 percent rate they would pay if they had enrolled within 6 
months of taking office.
  As a result, the cost of our bill would be borne by these new 
enrollees and not by the Federal Government or by previously enrolled 
judges. The Congressional Budget Office has conducted an informal 
review of this bill and determined that the cost of this bill is 
insignificant. Therefore, the bill would require no Federal funds and 
have no

[[Page S5724]]

PAYGO implications. The higher ongoing contribution rates for new 
enrollees will offset the value of any potential future liabilities 
that would be incurred by the JSAS fund, which currently has assets of 
over $500 million.
  One of the highest priorities of the federal judiciary in recent 
years has been the pursuit of a pay raise. Federal judges have not 
received a pay raise from Congress since 1991, other than occasional 
cost-of living adjustments, and there is a concern that some of this 
Nation's best and brightest attorneys no longer seek Federal judgeships 
because of the financial sacrifice they and their families would have 
to make. The bill that Senator Hatch and I are introducing today would 
not raise the judicial pay of our federal judges, but it would at least 
provide a modest benefit that might make judicial service more tenable 
and more attractive. I hope Congress will take up and pass the Judicial 
Survivors Protection Act of 2009 as soon as possible.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1107

       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 ``Judicial Survivors 
     Protection Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) The term ``judicial official'' refers to incumbent 
     officials defined under section 376(a) of title 28, United 
     States Code.
       (2) The term ``Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund'' means 
     the fund established under section 3 of the Judicial 
     Survivors' Annuities Reform Act (28 U.S.C. 376 note; Public 
     Law 94-554; 90 Stat. 2611).
       (3) The term ``Judicial Survivors' Annuities System'' means 
     the program established under section 376 of title 28, United 
     States Code.

     SEC. 3. PERSONS NOT CURRENTLY PARTICIPATING IN THE JUDICIAL 
                   SURVIVORS' ANNUITIES SYSTEM.

       (a) Election of Judicial Survivors' Annuities System 
     Coverage.--An eligible judicial official may elect to 
     participate in the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System 
     during the open enrollment period specified in subsection 
     (d).
       (b) Manner of Making Elections.--An election under this 
     section shall be made in writing, signed by the person making 
     the election, and received by the Director of the 
     Administrative Office of the United States Courts before the 
     end of the open enrollment period.
       (c) Effective Date for Elections.--Any such election shall 
     be effective as of the first day of the first calendar month 
     following the month in which the election is received by the 
     Director.
       (d) Open Enrollment Period Defined.--The open enrollment 
     period under this section is the 6-month period beginning 30 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICERS' CONTRIBUTIONS FOR OPEN ENROLLMENT 
                   ELECTION.

       (a) Contribution Rate.--Every active judicial official who 
     files a written notification of his or her intention to 
     participate in the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System 
     during the open enrollment period shall be deemed thereby to 
     consent and agree to having deducted from his or her salary a 
     sum equal to 2.75 percent of that salary or a sum equal to 
     3.5 percent of his or her retirement salary, except that the 
     deduction from any retirement salary--
       (1) of a justice or judge of the United States retired from 
     regular active service under section 371(b) or 372(a) of 
     title 28, United States Code;
       (2) of a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims 
     retired under section 178 of title 28, United States Code; or
       (3) of a judicial official on recall under section 155(b), 
     373(c)(4), 375, or 636(h) of title 28, United States Code,

     shall be an amount equal to 2.75 percent of retirement 
     salary.
       (b) Contributions To Be Credited to Judicial Survivors' 
     Annuities Fund.--Contributions made under subsection (a) 
     shall be credited to the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund.

     SEC. 5. DEPOSIT FOR PRIOR CREDITABLE SERVICE.

       (a) Lump Sum Deposit.--Any judicial official who files a 
     written notification of his or her intention to participate 
     in the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System during the open 
     enrollment period may make a deposit equaling 2.75 percent of 
     salary, plus 3 percent annual, compounded interest, for the 
     last 18 months of prior service, to receive the credit for 
     prior judicial service required for immediate coverage and 
     protection of the official's survivors. Any such deposit 
     shall be made on or before the closure of the open enrollment 
     period.
       (b) Deposits To Be Credited to Judicial Survivors' 
     Annuities Fund.--Deposits made under subsection (a) shall be 
     credited to the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Fund.

     SEC. 6. VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENLARGE SURVIVORS' 
                   ANNUITY.

       Section 376 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(y) For each year of Federal judicial service completed, 
     judicial officials who are enrolled in the Judicial 
     Survivors' Annuities System on the date of enactment of the 
     Judicial Survivors Protection Act of 2009 may purchase, in 3-
     month increments, up to an additional year of service credit, 
     under the terms set forth in this section. In the case of 
     judicial officials who elect to enroll in the Judicial 
     Survivors' Annuities System during the statutory open 
     enrollment period authorized under the Judicial Survivors 
     Protection Act of 2009, for each year of Federal judicial 
     service completed, such an official may purchase, in 3-month 
     increments, up to an additional year of service credit for 
     each year of Federal judicial service completed, under the 
     terms set forth in section 4(a) of that Act.''.

     SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act, including the amendment made by section 6, shall 
     take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague from 
Illinois and fellow Judiciary Committee member, Senator Durbin, in 
introducing the Judicial Survivors' Protection Act of 2009. This 
legislation will provide more Federal judges with an opportunity 
financially to provide for their own families after their death. Under 
this legislation, the cost of this opportunity will be borne by the 
judges themselves, not by the taxpayers, and I hope all my colleagues 
will support it.
  Congress created the Judicial Survivors' Annuity System in 1956. It 
allow Federal judges to devote a portion of their salary toward an 
annuity for their spouses and dependent children upon the judges' 
death. Enrollment in JSAS is also necessary for a judge's family 
members to continue receiving health insurance coverage under the 
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
  The catch is that judges must enroll within 6 months of taking 
judicial office or 6 months of marriage while in office. Approximately 
40 percent of current Federal judges did not do so, some for financial 
reasons. Many judges who had been in private practice, for example, 
took a substantial pay cut to enter public service. The enrollment 
period for JSAS was the very time when they and their families were 
making that financial adjustment, when maximizing current income was 
the priority. This is just one of the scenarios which have led judges 
to decline enrollment in JSAS, and it will become more likely, more 
pronounced, as Congress refuses to give Federal judges a much needed 
pay raise.
  Congress may authorize an open-season period for sitting judges to 
enroll but has not done so since 1992, the year after Congress last 
gave Federal judges a real salary increase. The legislation we 
introduce today would provide for such a one-time, 6 month period for 
sitting Federal judges to enroll in JSAS. Doing so would not cost the 
taxpayers anything because these judges would commit a higher 
percentage of their salary than those who enroll during the ordinary 
period.
  Congress' refusal to provide appropriate judicial compensation limits 
judges' ability to provide for their families financial future. 
Providing this one-time opportunity for judges to enroll in JSAS, 
therefore, is almost the least we can do. It will also allow more 
judges to ensure that their family members will continue receiving 
health insurance coverage. And since it will not cost the taxpayers 
anything, I think it is a win-win which I trust will receive wide 
bipartisan support.
                                 ______