I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10158 

To extend the break-in-service consideration for firefighter retirements, and 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2024 

Mr. HARDER of California (for himself and Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To extend the break-in-service consideration for firefighter 

retirements, and other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CONTINUING ACCRUAL OF SERVICE FOR FIRE4 FIGHTERS. 

5 (a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

6 Section 8401(14) of title 5, United States Code, is amend7 ed to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(14) the term ‘firefighter’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) an employee, the duties of whose po10 sition— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 10158 IH

1 ‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di2 rectly connected with the control and extin3 guishment of nonwildland fires; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em5 ployment opportunities should be limited to 

6 young and physically vigorous individuals, 

7 as determined by the Director considering 

8 the recommendations of the employing 

9 agency; 

10 ‘‘(B) an employee, the duties of whose po11 sition— 

12 ‘‘(i) are primarily to perform work di13 rectly connected with the control and extin14 guishment of wildland fires; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em16 ployment opportunities should be limited to 

17 young and physically vigorous individuals, 

18 as determined by the Director considering 

19 the recommendations of the employing 

20 agency; 

21 ‘‘(C) an employee who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is transferred directly to a super23 visory or administrative position after per24 forming duties described in subparagraph 

25 (A) for at least 3 years; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 10158 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) while serving in such supervisory 

2 or administrative position, has no break in 

3 service; or 

4 ‘‘(D) an employee who— 

5 ‘‘(i) occupies a supervisory or admin6 istrative position after performing duties 

7 described in subparagraph (B) for not less 

8 than 3 years; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) has not more than 24 months in 

10 total time of breaks in service;’’. 

11 (b) SERVICE BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

13 under paragraph (2), service performed before the 

14 date of enactment of this Act by an individual who, 

15 on the date of enactment of this Act, is an employee 

16 (as defined in section 8401(11) of title 5, United 

17 States Code) shall, for the purposes of chapter 84 of 

18 title 5, United States Code, be treated as service 

19 performed by a firefighter if— 

20 (A) such service was performed during the 

21 period beginning on October 1, 2003, and end22 ing on the day before the date of enactment of 

23 this Act; 

24 (B) at the time of performing such serv25 ice— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 10158 IH

1 (i) the individual did not meet the re2 quirements to be a firefighter under sec3 tion 8401(14) of title 5, United States 

4 Code, because of a break in service; and 

5 (ii) would have met the requirements 

6 to be a firefighter under section 

7 8401(14)(D) of title 5, United States 

8 Code, as amended by this Act; and 

9 (C) appropriate deductions and 

10 withholdings under sections 8422 and 8423 of 

11 title 5, United States Code, were made during 

12 such service. 

13 (2) CREDIT FOR SERVICE.—To receive credit 

14 for eligible service under paragraph (1), the applica15 ble individual shall— 

16 (A) before the date on which the individual 

17 separates from service in the agency in which 

18 the individual holds a position on the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, submit a written election 

20 to the agency employing the individual; 

21 (B) if the individual is not employed by the 

22 agency that employed the individual when the 

23 service described in paragraph (1) was per24 formed, submit a written election to such agen25 cy; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 10158 IH

1 (C) remit to the agency that employed the 

2 individual when such service was performed the 

3 additional amount that would have been de4 ducted during the period of prior service under 

5 section 8422 of title 5, United States Code, 

6 from the pay of the individual if the amend7 ments made by subsection (a) had been in ef8 fect during the prior service, plus any applicable 

9 interest computed under section 8334(e) of title 

10 5, United States Code. 

11 (3) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—If an indi12 vidual remits payment under paragraph (2)(C) with 

13 respect to service described in paragraph (1), the 

14 agency that employed the individual when such serv15 ice was performed shall remit to the Office of Per16 sonnel Management (for deposit in the Treasury of 

17 the United States to the credit of the Civil Service 

18 Retirement and Disability Fund) the total additional 

19 amount of Federal contributions that would have 

20 been paid under section 8423 of title 5, United 

21 States Code, if the amendments made by subsection 

22 (a) had been in effect during the prior service, plus 

23 any applicable interest computed in accordance with 

24 section 8334(e) of title 5, United States Code. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 10158 IH

1 (4) NOTIFICATION AND ASSISTANCE REQUIRE2 MENTS.—The Director of the Office of Personnel 

3 Management shall— 

4 (A) take such action as may be necessary 

5 and appropriate to inform individuals entitled 

6 to have any service credited under this sub7 section, or to have any annuity computed under 

8 this subsection, of the entitlement to the credit 

9 or computation; and 

10 (B) upon request, assist any individual de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) in obtaining such 

12 information in the possession of the Secretary 

13 of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, 

14 as applicable, as may be necessary to verify the 

15 entitlement of the individual to have any service 

16 credited, or to have any annuity computed, pur17 suant to this subsection. 

18 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

19 section shall be construed to permit or require the 

20 making of any contribution to the Thrift Savings 

21 Fund that would not otherwise have been permitted 

22 or required but for the enactment of this section. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB