I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2828 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that for purposes of 

computing the annuity of certain law enforcement officers, any hours 

worked in excess of the limitation applicable to law enforcement premium 

pay shall be included in such computation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2019 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. SWALWELL of 

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, 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 amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that for 

purposes of computing the annuity of certain law enforcement officers, any hours worked in excess of the 

limitation applicable to law enforcement premium pay 

shall be included in such computation, 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; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘LEO Fair Retirement Act of 2019’’. 

4 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Federal law enforcement officers are never 

6 ‘‘off-duty’’. They are counted on to respond at any 

7 time of the day or night, regardless of their official 

8 duty status, to protect the public safety. Outside of 

9 our Nation’s Armed Forces, theirs is the only pro10 fession comprised of individuals who are routinely 

11 called upon to put their lives on the line to keep 

12 America safe. 

13 (2) Though the Federal Government may house 

14 the largest variety of occupations of any U.S. em15 ployer across its panoply of agencies and entities, 

16 Federal law enforcement is absolutely unique among 

17 them, and the Federal law enforcement officer has 

18 no counterpart in the private sector. It is one of the 

19 most stressful, most dangerous, and most rewarding 

20 careers for those who meet the rigorous require21 ments of the job. 

22 (3) It was in recognition of the unique nature 

23 of the occupation, and the demanding schedules re24 quired of those who fill its ranks, that Congress es25 tablished distinct pay and benefit systems for FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828

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1 eral law enforcement positions. This includes basic 

2 pay, retirement, and even overtime compensation. 

3 (4) Under current law, however, the payment of 

4 overtime compensation is limited, and is only pay5 able to the extent that the payments do not cause 

6 the aggregate of the law enforcement officer’s bi7 weekly or annual pay to exceed the pay caps estab8 lished under section 5547 of title 5, United States 

9 Code. This often results in a law enforcement officer 

10 working significant amounts of overtime hours year 

11 after year for which the officer is never com12 pensated. 

13 (5) In light of the continuing homeland and na14 tional security threats facing our Nation, it is in the 

15 interest of the Federal Government to ensure that it 

16 can continue to recruit and retain the highest caliber 

17 personnel by allowing Federal law enforcement offi18 cers the opportunity to reclaim full credit in retire19 ment for overtime hours worked but never paid. 

20 SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY FOR HOURS WORKED 

21 IN EXCESS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PREMIUM 

22 PAY LIMITATIONS. 

23 (a) CSRS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8339 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following: 

4 ‘‘(v)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

5 title, including sections 5545a and 5547, and consistent 

6 with the requirements of paragraph (2), any premium pay 

7 described in section 5547(a) that would have been received 

8 by a law enforcement officer but for the limitation pro9 vided in such section shall be included in the average pay 

10 of such officer for purposes of computing the annuity of 

11 such officer under this section. 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply unless the law 

13 enforcement officer makes a lump-sum payment to the Of14 fice in the manner prescribed under this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(B) The officer may— 

16 ‘‘(i) not later than 180 days before the date 

17 that the officer’s annuity will commence, request 

18 from the Office an estimate (expressed as a dollar 

19 figure) of— 

20 ‘‘(I) the lump-sum payment described 

21 under subparagraph (C); 

22 ‘‘(II) the amount of the officer’s monthly 

23 annuity payment if the officer elects to make 

24 the lump-sum payment and receive an amended 


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1 annuity that includes the application of para2 graph (1); and 

3 ‘‘(III) the amount of such officer’s monthly 

4 annuity payment if the officer does not make 

5 such an election; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) consistent with the requirements of sub7 paragraph (D), not later than 90 days after receipt 

8 of the estimate under clause (i), irrevocably elect to 

9 make the lump-sum payment to the Office. 

10 ‘‘(C) If a law enforcement officer makes an election 

11 pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), such officer shall make 

12 a lump-sum payment to the Office equal to the difference 

13 between— 

14 ‘‘(i) the amount that would have been contrib15 uted by the officer and the employer under section 

16 8334 during the 3 consecutive years used to deter17 mine average pay (as described under section 

18 8331(4)) if the rate of basic pay of the officer dur19 ing such period of years included any premium pay 

20 described in section 5547(a) that would have been 

21 received by a law enforcement officer but for the 

22 limitation provided in such section; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the amount that was so contributed during 

24 such period of years. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The officer may elect an actuarial annuity re2 duction, consistent with regulations prescribed by the Of3 fice, in lieu of the lump-sum payment required under sub4 paragraphs (B) and (C). 

5 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘law enforcement of6 ficer’ has the meaning given the term ‘qualified public 

7 safety employee’ in section 72(t)(10) of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986.’’. 

9 (2) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ANNUITY

10 LIMIT.—The limitation provided in section 8339(f) 

11 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to any an12 nuity calculated pursuant to subsection (v) of such 

13 section (as added by paragraph (1)). 

14 (b) FERS.—Section 8415 of title 5, United States 

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

16 ‘‘(o)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

17 title, including sections 5545a and 5547, and consistent 

18 with the requirements of paragraph (2), any premium pay 

19 described in section 5547(a) that would have been received 

20 by a law enforcement officer but for the limitation pro21 vided in such section shall be included in the average pay 

22 of such officer for purposes of computing the annuity of 

23 such officer under this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply unless the law en25 forcement officer makes a lump-sum payment to the Office 


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1 in the same manner as prescribed under section 

2 8339(v)(2). 

3 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘law enforcement of4 ficer’ has the meaning given the term ‘qualified public 

5 safety employee’ in section 72(t)(10) of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986.’’. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub8 section (a) and (b) shall apply to any applicable annuity 

9 calculated on or after the date that is one year after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (d) REGULATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 

14 the Office of Personnel Management shall promul15 gate regulations to carry out sections 8339(v) and 

16 8415(o) of title 5, United States Code, as added by 

17 subsections (a) and (b). 

18 (2) LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—Such regulations 

19 shall include— 

20 (A) procedures under which any law en21 forcement officer covered by such sections may 

22 make the lump-sum payment as described 

23 under sections 8339(v)(2) and 8415(o)(2) of 

24 title 5, United States Code, as added by subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828

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1 sections (a) and (b), from amounts within the 

2 officer’s Thrift Savings Fund account; and 

3 (B) procedures, promulgated in consulta4 tion with the Thrift Savings Board, under 

5 which a transfer may be made from such ac6 count to the Office of Personnel Management. 

7 (3) SOLICITATION OF PAYROLL INFORMA8 TION.—Such regulations shall include— 

9 (A) guidance for agencies employing law 

10 enforcement officers for proper retention of 

11 payroll information required to carry out the 

12 amendments made by subsection (a) and (b), 

13 including, for each creditable year of service, 

14 the difference between the amount the law en15 forcement officer received in gross compensa16 tion and the amount that would have been re17 ceived as gross compensation but for the appli18 cation of the premium pay caps in section 5547 

19 of title 5, United States Code; and 

20 (B) procedures for the Director to solicit 

21 sufficient payroll information from the head of 

22 each applicable agency to provide for the com23 putations required by the amendments made by 

24 this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR AVAILABILITY PAY FOR POSTAL 

2 INSPECTORS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5545a of title 5, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(l) The provisions of subsections (a)–(h) providing 

7 for availability pay shall apply to a Postal Inspector. For 

8 the purpose of this section, section 5542(d) of this title, 

9 and section 13(a)(16) and (b)(30) of the Fair Labor 

10 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(16) and 

11 (b)(30)), a Postal Inspector shall be deemed to be a crimi12 nal investigator as defined in this section. For purposes 

13 of this subsection, the term ‘Postal Inspector’ has the 

14 meaning given such term under section 1003(c) of title 

15 39.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 410(b)(11) 

17 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘Section 5520a’’ and inserting ‘‘Sections 5520a and 

19 5545a’’. 

20 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR CERTAIN LUMP-SUM PAYMENTS OF 

21 UNCOMPENSATED LAW ENFORCEMENT PRE22 MIUM PAY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, there 

24 shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by 

25 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the 

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1 sum payments made by the individual during such taxable 

2 year pursuant to section 8339(v)(2) or 8415(o)(2) of title 

3 5, United States Code, with respect to an annuity of such 

4 individual. 

5 (b) TREATED AS NON-REFUNDABLE PERSONAL

6 CREDIT.—For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986, the credit allowed under subsection (a) shall be 

8 treated as a credit allowed under subpart A of part IV 

9 of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code. 

Æ 


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