I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3389

To reduce the unfunded liability of the teachers’, firefighters’, police officers’,

and judges’ pension funds of the District of Columbia by increasing

and extending the contributions of the Federal Government to such

funds, increasing employee contributions to such funds, and establishing

a single annual cost-of-living adjustment for annuities paid from such

funds, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 2, 1996

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To reduce the unfunded liability of the teachers’, firefighters’, police officers’, and judges’ pension funds of

the District of Columbia by increasing and extending

the contributions of the Federal Government to such

funds, increasing employee contributions to such funds,

and establishing a single annual cost-of-living adjustment

for annuities paid from such funds, and for other

purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia

3 Pension Liability Funding Reform Act of 1996’’.

4 TITLE I—FEDERAL CONTRIBU5 TION TO DISTRICT OF CO6 LUMBIA PENSION FUNDS

7 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AND EXTENSION OF FEDERAL CON8 TRIBUTION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 144(a) of the District of

10 Columbia Retirement Reform Act (sec. 1–724(a), D.C.

11 Code) is amended—

12 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

13 striking ‘‘2004—’’ and inserting ‘‘2036 the following

14 amounts:’’;

15 (2) in paragraph (1)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘as’’ and inserting ‘‘As’’,

17 and

18 (B) by striking ‘‘Fund, the sum’’ and all

19 that follows and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘Fund—

21 ‘‘(A) for each fiscal year through fiscal

22 year 1996, the sum of $34,170,000, reduced by

23 the amount of any reduction required under

24 section 145(c); and
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1 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1997 and each subse2 quent fiscal year, the sum of $193,579,000, re3 duced by the amount of any such reduction.’’;

4 (3) in paragraph (2)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘as’’ and inserting ‘‘As’’,

6 and

7 (B) by striking ‘‘Fund, the sum’’ and all

8 that follows and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘Fund—

10 ‘‘(A) for each fiscal year through fiscal

11 year 1996, the sum of $17,680,000; and

12 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1997 and each subse13 quent fiscal year, the sum of $100,152,500.’’;

14 and

15 (4) in paragraph (3)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘as’’ and inserting ‘‘As’’,

17 and

18 (B) by striking ‘‘Fund, the sum’’ and all

19 that follows and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘Fund—

21 ‘‘(A) for each fiscal year through fiscal

22 year 1996, the sum of $220,000; and

23 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1997 and each subse24 quent fiscal year, the sum of $1,268,500.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The District of

2 Columbia Retirement Reform Act is amended—

3 (1) in section 142(b)(1) (sec. 1–722(b)(1), D.C.

4 Code), by striking ‘‘2004’’ each place it appears in

5 subparagraphs (A) and (D) and inserting ‘‘2036’’;

6 (2) in section 142(b)(2) (sec. 1–722(b)(2), D.C.

7 Code), by striking ‘‘2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2037’’;

8 (3) in section 142(c)(1)(A) (sec. 1–

9 722(c)(1)(A), D.C. Code), by striking ‘‘2003’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘2035’’;

11 (4) in section 144(e) (sec.1–724, D.C. Code)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘2004’’ in paragraph (1)

13 and inserting ‘‘2036’’, and

14 (B) by striking paragraph (2);

15 (5) in section 145 (sec. 1–725, D.C. Code), by

16 striking ‘‘2004’’ each place it appears in subsections

17 (a)(1) and (c)(1) and inserting ‘‘2036’’; and

18 (6) in section 162(d) (sec. 1–732(d)(1), D.C.

19 Code), by striking paragraph (5).
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1 TITLE II—CHANGES IN

2 RETIREMENT BENEFITS

3 Subtitle A—Police Officers’ and

4 Fire Fighters’ Contribution

5 SEC. 201. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION.

6 The first sentence of subsection (d)(1) of the Police7 men and Firemen’s Retirement and Disability Act (sec.

8 4–612(a), D.C. Code) is amended by inserting after ‘‘per

9 centum’’ the following: ‘‘(or, with respect to a member who

10 is an officer or member of the Metropolitan Police force

11 or the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, 8 per

12 centum for each pay period which begins on or after Octo13 ber 1, 1996)’’.

14 SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF SINGLE ANNUAL COST-OF15 LIVING ADJUSTMENT.

16 Subsection (m) of the Policemen and Firemen’s Re17 tirement and Disability Act (sec. 4–624, D.C. Code) is

18 amended—

19 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the Mayor

20 shall’’ and all that follows and inserting the follow21 ing: ‘‘on January 1 of each year (or within a reason22 able time thereafter), the Mayor shall determine the

23 per centum change in the price index for the preced24 ing year by determining the difference between the

25 index published for December of the preceding year
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1 and the index published for December of the second

2 preceding year.’’; and

3 (2) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol4 lows:

5 ‘‘(3) If (in accordance with paragraph (2)) the Mayor

6 determines in a year (beginning with 1997) that the per

7 centum change in the price index for the preceding year

8 indicates a rise in the price index, each annuity having

9 a commencing date on or before September 1 of the year

10 shall, effective September 1 of the year, be increased by

11 an amount equal to—

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of an annuity having a com13 mencing date on or before September 1 of such pre14 ceding year, the per centum change computed under

paragraph (2), adjusted to the nearest 1 15 ⁄10 of 1 per

16 centum; or

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of an annuity having a com18 mencing date after September 1 of such preceding

19 year, a pro rata increase equal to the product of—

‘‘(i) 1 20 ⁄12 of the per centum change com21 puted under paragraph (2), multiplied by

22 ‘‘(ii) the number of months (not to exceed

23 12 months, counting any portion of a month as

24 an entire month) for which the annuity was

25 payable before the effective date of the increase,
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1 adjusted to

the nearest 1 2 ⁄10 of 1 per centum.’’.

3 SEC. 203. EQUALIZATION OF CONTRIBUTION RULES FOR

4 FORMER RETIREES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 209(a)(2)(B) of the Dis6 trict of Columbia Retirement Reform Act (sec. 4–625(2),

7 D.C. Code) is amended by striking ‘‘having a commencing

8 date after the effective date of such amendment.’’.

9 (b) REPEAL OF RELIEF ALLOWANCE OR COMPENSA10 TION INCREASE.—Section 301 of the District of Columbia

11 Police and Firemen’s Salary Act of 1953 (sec. 4–605,

12 D.C. Code) is repealed.

13 Subtitle B—Teachers’ Contribution

14 SEC. 211. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION.

15 The first sentence of section 1 of the Act entitled ‘‘An

16 Act for the retirement of public-school teachers in the Dis17 trict of Columbia’’, approved August 7, 1946 (sec. 31–

18 1221(a), D.C. Code), is amended by inserting after ‘‘per

19 centum’’ the following: ‘‘(or, with respect to each pay pe20 riod which begins on or after October 1, 1996, 8 per cen21 tum)’’.

22 SEC. 212. ESTABLISHMENT OF SINGLE ANNUAL COST-OF23 LIVING ADJUSTMENT.

24 Section 21(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the re25 tirement of public-school teachers in the District of Co-
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1 lumbia’’, approved August 7, 1946 (sec. 31–1241(b), D.C.

2 Code) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The Mayor

4 shall—’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol5 lowing: ‘‘On January 1 of each year (or within a

6 reasonable time thereafter), the Mayor shall deter7 mine the per centum change in the price index for

8 the preceding year by determining the difference be9 tween the index published for December of the pre10 ceding year and the index published for December of

11 the second preceding year.’’; and

12 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol13 lows:

14 ‘‘(2) If (in accordance with paragraph (1)) the Mayor

15 determines in a year (beginning with 1997) that the per

16 centum change in the price index for the preceding year

17 indicates a rise in the price index, each annuity having

18 a commencing date on or before September 1 of the year

19 shall, effective September 1 of the year, be increased by

20 an amount equal to—

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of an annuity having a com22 mencing date on or before September 1 of such pre23 ceding year, the per centum change computed under

paragraph (1), adjusted to the nearest 1 24 ⁄10 of 1 per

25 centum; or
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of an annuity having a com2 mencing date after September 1 of such preceding

3 year, a pro rata increase equal to the product of—

‘‘(i) 1 4 ⁄12 of the per centum change com5 puted under paragraph (1), multiplied by

6 ‘‘(ii) the number of months (not to exceed

7 12 months, counting any portion of a month as

8 an entire month) for which the annuity was

9 payable before the effective date of the increase,

adjusted to the nearest 1 10 ⁄10 of 1 per centum.’’.

11 Subtitle C—Judges’ Contribution

12 SEC. 221. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION.

13 (a) AMOUNT OF WITHHOLDING.—The first sentence

14 of section 11–1563(a), D.C. Code, is amended by inserting

15 after ‘‘per centum’’ the following: ‘‘(or, with respect to

16 each pay period which begins on or after October 1, 1996,

41 17 ⁄2 per centum)’’.

18 (b) COMPUTATION OF RETIREMENT SALARY.—Sec19 tion 11–1564(d)(1), D.C. Code, is amended by inserting

20 after ‘‘United States Code,’’ the following: ‘‘with respect

21 to services performed before October 1, 1996, and equal

to 41 22 ⁄2 per centum of such salary, pay, or compensation

23 with respect to services performed on or after October 1,

24 1996,’’.
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1 TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE

2 SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATE.

3 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

4 October 1, 1996.

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