PENSIONS

Amendments

Income: reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), S1682 [3MR]

Taxation: allow deduction for Armed Forces serving in a combat zone for contributions to individual retirement plans even if the compensation on which contributions are based is excluded from gross income (H.R. 1499), S4815 [18MY]

Analyses

Sustainable Solvency First for Social Security Act (S. 2427), S2318-S2320 [16MR]

Appointments

Conferees: H.R. 2830, Pension Protection Act, H739 [8MR]

———H.R. 2830, Pension Security and Transparency Act, S1755 [3MR]

Articles and editorials

U.S. Senator Grassley—Senator Reid Undermining Pension Talks, S1607 [2MR]

Bills and resolutions

Armed Forces: provide eligibility for certain additional dependent children for annuities under the military Survivor Benefit Plan (see H.R. 5391), H2641 [16MY]

———provide for the inclusion of certain special and incentive pays in the computation of military retired pay for members who have special operations forces designation (see H.R. 5584), H3787 [12JN]

———reduce the age for receipt of military retired pay for non-regular service (see S. 2449), S2313 [16MR]

Churches: allow certain existing retirement plans maintained by churches to continue to provide annuities directly to participants rather than through an insurance company (see H.R. 5424), H2832 (see H.R. 5424), H2890 [18MY]

Corporations: reduce burdens of implementing internal auditing control requirements of companies subject to securities laws (see S. 2824), S4695 [17MY] (see H.R. 5405), H2705 (see H.R. 5405), H2757 [17MY]

Dept. of Energy: ensure equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to contractor employees (see S. 2794), S4469 [11MY] (see H.R. 5362), H2584 [11MY]

Dept. of the Treasury: provide for the continued payment of railroad retirement annuities (see H.R. 5074), H1451 [4AP]

Dept. of Veterans Affairs: improve pension program (see H.R. 5119), H1677 [6AP]

———recalculate retirement annuities for certain health care professionals performing part-time services (see S. 3598), S6786 [29JN]

District of Columbia: permit the establishment of a program of voluntary separation incentive payments for nonjudicial employees of the District of Columbia courts (see H.R. 5711), H4914 [29JN]

Federal employees: exempt individuals under the Civil Service Retirement System from paying interest on refund repayments of retirement contributions in order to receive credit for service covered by the refund (see H.R. 4971), H1059 [15MR]

———provide a real estate stock index investment option under the Thrift Savings Plan (see S. 2490), S2730 [3AP]

Members of Congress: deny congressional retirement benefits to Members convicted of certain white collar offenses (see S. 2268), S979 [9FE]

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.: establish position of Director and make position subject to Senate approval (see S. 2919), S4891 [22MY]

Social Security: authorize payments under Federal retirement systems to trusts set up for disabled dependents of Federal employees (see S. 2801), S4553 [15MY]

———eliminate time limitation for corrections to wage and self-employment income records relative to old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits (see H.R. 4702), H160 [7FE]

———provide entitlement to dependents' and survivors' benefits under Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program to permanent partnerships (see H.R. 5152), H1678 [6AP]

———provide for progressive indexing and longevity indexing of old-age insurance benefits for newly retired and aged surviving spouses to ensure future solvency (see S. 2427), S2312 [16MR]

———replace certain employment requirements for Government pension offset exemption with the rule that last applied prior to enactment of the Social Security Protection Act (see H.R. 5210), H1852 [26AP]

———require trust funds be held in trust for beneficiaries, ensure assets are not diverted, and authorize investment in securities that are not limited to those guaranteed by the U.S. (see H.R. 4965), H1059 [15MR]

Taxation: deduction for Armed Forces serving in combat zone for contributions to retirement plans even if compensation on which contributions are based is excluded from income (H.R. 1499), concur in Senate amendment (see H. Res. 803), H2338 [9MY]

———establish fairness in the treatment of certain pension plans maintained by churches (see S. 2193), S123 [25JA]

———include in gross income the value of assets set aside under an employer nonqualified deferred compensation plan when the employer defined benefit plan has a certain funding target attainment percentage (see H.R. 4884), H644 [7MR]

———increase access to pension plans and other retirement savings vehicles (see S. 2431), S2312 [16MR]

———increase contribution limits for individual retirement plans, defined contribution plans, and salary reduction plans (see H.R. 5322), H2338 [9MY]

———increase penalties for failure to file actuarial reports on certain pension plans (see S. 2919), S4891 [22MY]

Veterans: expand eligibility for concurrent receipt of combat-related compensation with service-connected disability benefits (see S. 2385), S1893 [8MR]

———increase amount of Medal of Honor special pension and provide for payment of that pension to the surviving spouse of a deceased Medal of Honor recipient (see H.R. 5669), H4519 [22JN]

———increase rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain disabled veterans (see S. 2562), S3211 [6AP] (see H.R. 4843), H563 [2MR]

———provide annual cost-of-living adjustments in rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain disabled veterans (see S. 3068), S5227 [25MY]

Letters

Democratic Party national agenda: several Senators, S6594 [28JN]

Social Security reserve fund: David P. Sloane, AARP, S2263 [16MR]

Memorandums

Eliminate Income Limitation on Conversions from Traditional Individual Retirement Accounts to Roth Individual Retirement Accounts: Thomas A. Barthold, Committee on Taxation (Joint), S4417, S4439 [11MY]

Loss of Federal Pension Annuity Payments for Conviction of Certain Crimes and Contract Issues: Jack Maskell, Congressional Research Service, H2020 [3MY]

Motions

Income: reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), H722 [8MR], H1530 [5AP], H1615 [6AP], H1952 [2MY], H2071 [3MY]

Outlines

Democratic Caucus principles in support of S. 1783, Pension Security and Transparency Act, S3372 [7AP]

Remarks in House

Bush, President: State of the Union Message, H304 [15FE]

Business and industry: ensure that restrictions on funding of benefits for workers and retirees apply to chief executive officers and corporate officers, H2072-H2076 [3MY], E735 [5MY]

Churches: allow certain existing retirement plans maintained by churches to continue to provide annuities directly to participants rather than through an insurance company (H.R. 5424), E894 [19MY]

Delphi Corp.: impact of bankruptcy proceedings on employee pensions, H1539, H1541 [5AP], H1627, H1631 [6AP], E542 [6AP], E563 [7AP], E711 [3MY]

Dept. of Energy: ensure equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to contractor employees, H3163 [24MY]

———ensure equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to contractor employees (H.R. 5362), E824 [12MY]

Dept. of Veterans Affairs: repeal the offset from surviving spouse annuities under the military Survivor Benefit Plan for amounts paid as dependency and indemnity compensation, H2549, H2550 [11MY]

———repeal the offset from surviving spouse annuities under the military Survivor Benefit Plan for amounts paid as dependency and indemnity compensation (H.R. 808), E1305 [28JN]

Economy: national objectives priority assignments, H3773 [12JN]

FBI: protect retirement benefits of supervisory special agents, H4632, H4633 [27JN]

Federal employees: exempt individuals under the Civil Service Retirement System from paying interest on refund repayments of retirement contributions in order to receive credit for service covered by the refund (H.R. 4971), E373 [15MR]

Income: reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), H722 [8MR], H1888, H1889 [27AP], H1952 [2MY], E15 [31JA]

———reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), motion to instruct conferees, H723-H727 [8MR], H1530 [5AP], H1615-H1621 [6AP], H2071-H2076 [3MY], E465 [30MR], E735 [5MY]

Investments: protect accrued benefits of participants during conversions of pension plans to cash balance plans, H1615-H1621 [6AP]

Members of Congress: protect pension benefits of spouses and children of individuals involved in criminal behavior if such family members were not involved in or aware of the crime, H2042-H2044 [3MY]

Pension Rights Center (organization): anniversary, E190 [17FE]

Public safety officers: ensure that officers who suffer a fatal heart attack or stroke while on duty shall be presumed to have died in the line of duty for purposes of survivor benefits, H4733, H4734 [28JN]

Social Security: privatization proposals, H337 [16FE], H618 [7MR], H1309 [29MR], H3773 [12JN], H4014 [15JN], H4185 [16JN], H4201 [19JN], H4225 [20JN], H5013 [11JY]

Taxation: allow deduction for Armed Forces serving in a combat zone for contributions to individual retirement plans even if the compensation on which contributions are based is excluded from gross income (H.R. 1499), H2186 [9MY]

———deduction for Armed Forces serving in combat zone for contributions to retirement plans even if compensation on which contributions are based is excluded from income (H.R. 1499), concur in Senate amendment (H. Res. 803), H2193, H2194 [9MY]

———rates, H1609-H1615 [6AP]

Toussaint, Roger: serving of jail sentence for initiating New York, NY, transit system strike relative to cuts in public employee pension benefits, H1713 [25AP]

Veterans: change effective date for paid-up coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan (H.R. 968), E1305 [28JN]

———increase rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain disabled veterans (H.R. 4843), H4528-H4530 [26JN], E264 [2MR], E1283 [27JN]

Remarks in Senate

Armed Forces: across-the-board pay raise for all military personnel funding, S6401 [22JN]

———reduce the age for receipt of military retired pay for non-regular service and improve health care benefits for National Guard members and reservists under TRICARE, S6373-S6375 [22JN]

———reduce the age for receipt of military retired pay for non-regular service (S. 2449), S2338 [16MR]

———repeal requirement for reduction of certain Survivor Benefit Plan annuities by the amount of dependency and indemnity compensation and modify effective date for paid-up coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan, S2266 [16MR]

Corporations: reduce burdens of implementing internal auditing control requirements of companies subject to securities laws (S. 2824), S4690 [17MY]

Dept. of Energy: ensure equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to contractor employees (S. 2794), S4477 [11MY]

Dept. of Veterans Affairs: recalculate retirement annuities for certain health care professionals performing part-time services (S. 3598), S6788 [29JN]

Income: reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), S1755 [3MR], S6592 [28JN]

———reform funding rules (H.R. 2830), unanimous-consent request, S1380, S1381 [16FE]

———reform funding rules (S. 1783), S1079, S1080 [13FE], S1403, S1405 [16FE], S1493 [27FE], S1511 [28FE], S1555-S1557 [1MR], S1600, S1607 [2MR], S1666, S1671 [3MR], S3372 [7AP]

Members of Congress: deny congressional retirement benefits to Members convicted of certain white collar offenses (S. 2268), S981 [9FE], S2501 [29MR]

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.: establish position of Director and make position subject to Senate approval (S. 2919), S4893 [22MY]

Pension Rights Center (organization): anniversary, S1460 [17FE]

Social Security: establish reserve fund, S2263 [16MR]

———provide for progressive indexing and longevity indexing of old-age insurance benefits for newly retired and aged surviving spouses to ensure future solvency (S. 2427), S2317 [16MR]

———reform, S7293 [11JY]

Taxation: allow deduction for Armed Forces serving in a combat zone for contributions to individual retirement plans even if the compensation on which contributions are based is excluded from gross income (H.R. 1499), S4815, S4816 [18MY]

———allow tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts for charitable contributions, S1096 [13FE]

———eliminate income limitation on conversions from traditional individual retirement accounts to Roth individual retirement accounts, S4416, S4417, S4439, S4440 [11MY]

———establish fairness in the treatment of certain pension plans maintained by churches (S. 2193), S135 [25JA]

———increase access to pension plans and other retirement savings vehicles (S. 2431), S2323 [16MR]

———increase penalties for failure to file actuarial reports on certain pension plans (S. 2919), S4893 [22MY]

Veterans: eliminate phase-in period for concurrent receipt of military retired pay with service-connected disability benefits for the severely disabled, S6359 [22JN]

———expand eligibility for concurrent receipt of combat-related compensation with service-connected disability benefits (S. 2385), S1894 [8MR]

———improve benefits for World War II Filipino veterans, S2267 [16MR]

———increase rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain disabled veterans (S. 2562), S3219 [6AP]

Reports filed

Clarify Tax Treatment of Self-Employment for Purposes of the Limitation on State Taxation of Retirement Income: Committee on the Judiciary (House) (H.R. 4019) (H. Rept. 109-542), H4914 [29JN]

Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act: Committee on Veterans' Affairs (House) (H.R. 4843) (H. Rept. 109-521), H4519 [22JN]

Testimonies

Delphi Corp., Bankruptcy Filing Impact on Employee Pensions: Steve Grandstaff, UAW Local 651, E711 [3MY]

Impact of the Delphi Corp., Bankruptcy Filing: Steve Grandstaff, UAW Local 651, E563 [7AP]

Texts of

H. Res. 803, concur in Senate amendment to H.R. 1499, Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act, H2193 [9MY]

H.R. 4843, Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, H4528 [26JN]

S. 2193, establish fairness in the tax treatment of certain pension plans maintained by churches, S135 [25JA]

S. 2385, Combat-Related Special Compensation Act, S1895 [8MR]

S. 2449, reduce the age for receipt of military retired pay for non-regular service, S2338 [16MR]

S. 2490, Real Estate Investment Thrift Savings Act, S2732 [3AP]

S. 2562, Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, S3219 [6AP]

S. 2919, PBGC Confirmation Act, S4893 [22MY]