Garnishment Equalization Act of 1993

Summary: Garnishment Equalization Act of 1993 - Provides for the treatment of Federal pay in the same manner as non-Federal pay with respect to garnishment. Allows administrative costs to be included in such garnishment.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Garnishment Equalization Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. GARNISHMENT OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' PAY.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 55 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5520a. Garnishment of pay
    ``(a) For the purpose of this section--
            ``(1) the term `agency' means--
                    ``(A) an Executive agency (other than the General 
                Accounting Office);
                    ``(B) an agency of the judicial branch of the 
                Government; and
                    ``(C) an agency of the legislative branch of the 
                Government, including the General Accounting Office, 
                the office of a Member of Congress, a committee of 
                either House or a joint committee of the 2 Houses, and 
                any other office of Congress;
            ``(2) the term `employee' means an employee of an agency or 
        member of the uniformed services;
            ``(3) the term `private person' means a person who does not 
        have sovereign or other special immunity or privilege which 
        causes such person not to be subject to legal process;
            ``(4) the term `legal process' means any writ, order, 
        summons, or other similar process in the nature of garnishment, 
        which--
                    ``(A) is issued by--
                            ``(i) a court of competent jurisdiction 
                        within any State, territory, or possession of 
                        the United States;
                            ``(ii) a court of competent jurisdiction in 
                        any foreign country with which the United 
                        States has entered into an agreement which 
                        requires the United States to honor such 
                        process; or
                            ``(iii) an authorized official pursuant to 
                        an order of such a court of competent 
                        jurisdiction or pursuant to State or local law; 
                        and
                    ``(B) is directed to, and the purpose of which is 
                to compel, in accordance with applicable law, an agency 
                which holds moneys which are otherwise payable to an 
                individual, to make a payment from such moneys to 
                another party in order to satisfy a debt;
            ``(5) entitlement of an individual to any money shall be 
        deemed to be `based upon remuneration for employment' if such 
        money consists of compensation paid or payable for personal 
        services of such individual, whether such compensation is 
        denominated as pay, wages, salary, bonus, or otherwise, and 
        includes severance pay and incentive pay, but does not 
        include--
                    ``(A) awards for making suggestions;
                    ``(B) any payments under chapter 83 or 84, or any 
                other retirement system for employees; or
                    ``(C) amounts paid to such individual, by way of 
                reimbursement or otherwise, by such individual's 
                employing agency, to defray expenses incurred by such 
                individual in carrying out duties associated with such 
                individual's employment;
            ``(6) the term `process to which an agency is subject under 
        this section' does not include any legal process described in 
        section 462(e) of the Social Security Act; and
            ``(7) the term `debt' does not include any legal obligation 
        referred to in section 462(e)(2) of the Social Security Act.
    ``(b) Subject to the provisions of this section and the provisions 
of section 303 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, moneys (the 
entitlement to which is based upon remuneration for employment) due 
from, or payable by, an agency to any individual for service as an 
employee shall be subject, in like manner and to the same extent as if 
the United States were a private person, to legal process brought for 
the satisfaction of a debt owed to another party.
    ``(c)(1) Service of legal process under this section may be 
accomplished by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, 
or by personal service, upon--
            ``(A) the appropriate agent designated for receipt of such 
        service of process pursuant to regulations issued under this 
        section; or
            ``(B) if no agent has been designated for the agency having 
        payment responsibility for the moneys involved, then upon the 
        head of such agency.
    ``(2) Such legal process shall be accompanied by sufficient 
information to permit prompt identification of the individual and the 
moneys involved.
    ``(d) No employee whose duties include responding to 
interrogatories pursuant to requirements imposed by this section shall 
be subject under any law to any disciplinary action or civil or 
criminal liability or penalty for, or on account of, any disclosure of 
information made by such employee with the carrying out of any of such 
employee's duties which pertain (directly or indirectly) to the 
answering of any such interrogatory.
    ``(e) Whenever any person, who is designated by law or regulation 
to accept service of process to which an agency is subject under this 
section, is effectively served with any such process or with 
interrogatories relating to an individual's obligation in connection 
with a particular debt, such person shall respond thereto within 30 
days (or within such longer period as may be prescribed by applicable 
State law) after the date effective service thereof is made, and shall, 
as soon as possible but not later than 15 days after the date effective 
service is made, send written notice that such process has been so 
served (together with a copy thereof) to the affected employee at such 
employee's duty station or last-known home address.
    ``(f) Agencies affected by legal process under this section shall 
not be required to vary their normal pay and disbursement cycles in 
order to comply with any such legal process.
    ``(g) Neither the United States, an agency, nor any disbursing 
officer shall be liable with respect to any payment made from moneys 
due or payable from the United States to any individual pursuant to 
legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in 
accordance with this section and the regulations prescribed to carry 
out this section.
    ``(h)(1) In the event that an agency, which is authorized under 
this section or the regulations prescribed to carry out this section to 
accept service of process, is served with more than 1 legal process 
with respect to the same moneys due or payable to any individual, then 
such moneys shall be available to satisfy such processes on a first-
come, first-served basis, with any such process being satisfied out of 
such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of all such processes 
which have been previously served, subject to paragraph (2).
    ``(2) In the event of service of legal process under this section 
and the service of legal process (as defined by section 462(e) of the 
Social Security Act) under section 459 of the Social Security Act, with 
respect to the same moneys due or payable to an individual, priority 
shall be given to the legal process (as defined by such section 462(e)) 
served under such section 459.
    ``(i) In determining the amount of any payment due from, or payable 
by, an agency to an individual, there shall be excluded those amounts 
which would be excluded under section 462(g) of the Social Security 
Act.
    ``(j) Nothing in this section shall modify or supersede any 
provision of section 459, 461, or 462 of the Social Security Act.
    ``(k)(1) Regulations to carry out this section shall--
            ``(A) with respect to agencies under subsection (a)(1)(A), 
        be prescribed by the President or the President's designee;
            ``(B) with respect to agencies under subsection (a)(1)(B), 
        be prescribed by the Chief Justice of the United States or the 
        Chief Justice's designee; and
            ``(C) with respect to agencies under subsection (a)(1)(C), 
        be prescribed jointly by the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, or 
        their designee.
    ``(2) Such regulations shall provide that an agency's 
administrative costs in executing a garnishment action may be added to 
the garnishment, and that the agency may retain costs recovered as 
offsetting collections.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 55 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 5520 the following:

``5520a. Garnishment of pay.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Section 1005 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(g) The provisions of section 5520a of title 5 shall apply to 
officers and employees of the Postal Service.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to any 
legal process served on or after that effective date.