I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3511

To provide additional pension security for spouses and former spouses, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 1996

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Ms. FURSE, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Mr. LAFALCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the

Committees on Government Reform and Oversight, Transportation and

Infrastructure, and Economic and Educational Opportunities, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide additional pension security for spouses and former

spouses, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Pension Eq5 uity Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. MODEL SPOUSAL CONSENT FORM AND QUALIFIED

2 DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDER.

3 (a) MODEL SPOUSAL CONSENT FORM.—

4 (1) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE

5 CODE.—Section 417(a) of the Internal Revenue

6 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the

7 following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(7) CONSENT FORM.—The Secretary shall de9 velop a form not later than January 1, 1997, for the

10 spousal consent required under paragraph (2)

11 which—

12 ‘‘(A) is written in a manner calculated to

13 be understood by the average person, and

14 ‘‘(B) discloses in plain form whether—

15 ‘‘(i) the waiver is irrevocable, and

16 ‘‘(ii) the waiver may be revoked by a

17 qualified domestic relations order.’’.

18 (2) AMENDMENT TO ERISA.—Section 205(c) of

19 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of

20 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1055(c)) is amended by adding at

21 the end the following new paragraph:

22 ‘‘(8) The Secretary of the Treasury shall de23 velop a form not later than January 1, 1997, for the

24 spousal consent required under paragraph (2)

25 which—
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1 ‘‘(A) is written in a manner calculated to

2 be understood by the average person, and

3 ‘‘(B) discloses in plain form whether—

4 ‘‘(i) the waiver is irrevocable, and

5 ‘‘(ii) the waiver may be revoked by a

6 qualified domestic relations order.’’.

7 (b) MODEL QUALIFIED DOMESTIC RELATIONS

8 ORDER.—

9 (1) AMENDMENT TO ERISA.—Section 206(d)(3)

10 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of

11 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(3)) is amended by adding

12 at the end the following new subparagraph:

13 ‘‘(O) The Secretary shall develop a form not later

14 than January 1, 1997, for a qualified domestic relations

15 order—

16 ‘‘(i) which meets all the requirements of sub17 paragraph (B)(i), and

18 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of which focus attention on

19 the need to consider the treatment of any lump sum

20 payment, qualified joint and survivor annuity, or

21 qualified preretirement survivor annuity.’’.

22 (2) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE

23 CODE.—Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue

24 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the

25 following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(13) The Secretary of Labor shall develop a

2 form not later than January 1, 1997, for a qualified

3 domestic relations order which—

4 ‘‘(A) which meets all the requirements of

5 paragraph (1)(A), and

6 ‘‘(B) the provisions of which focus atten7 tion on the need to consider the treatment of

8 any lump sum payment, qualified joint and sur9 vivor annuity, or qualified preretirement survi10 vor annuity.’’.

11 (c) PUBLICITY.—The Secretary of the Treasury and

12 the Secretary of Labor shall include publicity for the

13 model forms required by the amendments made by this

14 section in the pension outreach efforts undertaken by each

15 Secretary.

16 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF TIER II RAILROAD RETIREMENT

17 BENEFITS TO SURVIVING FORMER SPOUSES

18 PURSUANT TO DIVORCE AGREEMENTS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Railroad Retire20 ment Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231d) is amended by adding

21 at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

23 payment of any portion of an annuity computed under sec24 tion 3(b) to a surviving former spouse in accordance with

25 a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation
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1 or the terms of any court-approved property settlement

2 incident to any such court decree shall not be terminated

3 upon the death of the individual who performed the service

4 with respect to which such annuity is so computed unless

5 such termination is otherwise required by the terms of

6 such court decree.’’.

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

8 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

9 of this Act.

10 SEC. 4. SURVIVOR ANNUITIES FOR WIDOWS, WIDOWERS,

11 AND FORMER SPOUSES OF FEDERAL EM12 PLOYEES WHO DIE BEFORE ATTAINING AGE

13 FOR DEFERRED ANNUITY UNDER CIVIL

14 SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

15 (a) BENEFITS FOR WIDOW OR WIDOWER.—Section

16 8341(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

17 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by—

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘a former employee sepa19 rated from the service with title to deferred an20 nuity from the Fund dies before having estab21 lished a valid claim for annuity and is survived

22 by a spouse, or if’’ before ‘‘a Member’’; and

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘of such former employee

24 or Member’’ after ‘‘the surviving spouse’’;

25 (2) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘former employee or’’

2 before ‘‘Member commencing’’; and

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘former employee or’’

4 before ‘‘Member dies’’; and

5 (3) in the undesignated sentence following para6 graph (2)—

7 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘former employee or’’ before

9 ‘‘Member’’; and

10 (B) in subparagraph (B) by inserting

11 ‘‘former employee or’’ before ‘‘Member’’.

12 (b) BENEFITS FOR FORMER SPOUSE.—Section

13 8341(h) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1) by adding after the first

15 sentence ‘‘Subject to paragraphs (2) through (5) of

16 this subsection, a former spouse of a former em17 ployee who dies after having separated from the

18 service with title to a deferred annuity under section

19 8338(a) but before having established a valid claim

20 for annuity is entitled to a survivor annuity under

21 this subsection, if and to the extent expressly pro22 vided for in an election under section 8339(j)(3) of

23 this title, or in the terms of any decree of divorce

24 or annulment or any court order or court-approved
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1 property settlement agreement incident to such de2 cree.’’; and

3 (2) in paragraph (2)—

4 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ‘‘or

5 annuitant,’’ and inserting ‘‘annuitant, or former

6 employee’’; and

7 (B) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by inserting

8 ‘‘former employee or’’ before ‘‘Member’’.

9 (c) PROTECTION OF SURVIVOR BENEFIT RIGHTS.—

10 Section 8339(j)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is

11 amended by inserting at the end the following:

12 ‘‘The Office shall provide by regulation for the appli13 cation of this subsection to the widow, widower, or surviv14 ing former spouse of a former employee who dies after

15 having separated from the service with title to a deferred

16 annuity under section 8338(a) but before having estab17 lished a valid claim for annuity.’’.

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

19 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

20 of this Act and shall apply only in the case of a former

21 employee who dies on or after such date.

22 SEC. 5. COURT ORDERS RELATING TO FEDERAL RETIRE23 MENT BENEFITS FOR FORMER SPOUSES OF

24 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.

25 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8345(j) of title 5,

2 United States Code, is amended—

3 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as

4 paragraph (4); and

5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the

6 following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(3) Payment to a person under a court decree, court

8 order, property settlement, or similar process referred to

9 under paragraph (1) shall include payment to a former

10 spouse of the employee, Member, or annuitant.’’.

11 (2) LUMP-SUM BENEFITS.—Section 8342 of

12 title 5, United States Code, is amended—

13 (A) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘Lump14 sum benefits’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub15 section (j), lump-sum benefits’’; and

16 (B) in subsection (j)(1) by striking ‘‘the

17 lump-sum credit under subsection (a) of this

18 section’’ and inserting ‘‘any lump-sum credit or

19 lump-sum benefit under this section’’.

20 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

21 Section 8467 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

22 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub23 section (d); and

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow25 ing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c) Payment to a person under a court decree, court

2 order, property settlement, or similar process referred to

3 under subsection (a) shall include payment to a former

4 spouse of the employee, Member, or annuitant.’’.

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

6 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

7 of this Act.

8 SEC. 6. PREVENTION OF CIRCUMVENTION OF COURT

9 ORDER BY WAIVER OF RETIRED PAY TO EN10 HANCE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT ANNU11 ITY.

12 (a) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY

13 SYSTEM.—(1) Subsection (c) of section 8332 of title 5,

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

15 following:

16 ‘‘(4) If an employee or Member waives retired pay

17 that is subject to a court order for which there has been

18 effective service on the Secretary concerned for purposes

19 of section 1408 of title 10, the military service on which

20 the retired pay is based may be credited as service for

21 purposes of this subchapter only if, in accordance with

22 regulations prescribed by the Director of the Office of Per23 sonnel Management, the employee or Member authorizes

24 the Director to deduct and withhold from the annuity pay25 able to the employee or Member under this subchapter,
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1 and to pay to the former spouse covered by the court

2 order, the same amount that would have been deducted

3 and withheld from the employee’s or Member’s retired pay

4 and paid to that former spouse under such section 1408.’’.

5 (2) Paragraph (1) of such subsection is amended by

6 striking out ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2)’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (4)’’.

8 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—

9 (1) Subsection (c) of section 8411 of title 5, United States

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(5) If an employee or Member waives retired pay

12 that is subject to a court order for which there has been

13 effective service on the Secretary concerned for purposes

14 of section 1408 of title 10, the military service on which

15 the retired pay is based may be credited as service for

16 purposes of this chapter only if, in accordance with regula17 tions prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel

18 Management, the employee or Member authorizes the Di19 rector to deduct and withhold from the annuity payable

20 to the employee or Member under this subchapter, and

21 to pay to the former spouse covered by the court order,

22 the same amount that would have been deducted and with23 held from the employee’s or Member’s retired pay and

24 paid to that former spouse under such section 1408.’’.
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1 (2) Paragraph (1) of such subsection is amended by

2 striking out ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3)’’

3 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3),

4 and (5)’’.

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

6 subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 1997.

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