I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2254 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to include certain Federal positions 

within the definition of law enforcement officer for retirement purposes, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2015 

Mr. KING of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to include certain 

Federal positions within the definition of law enforcement officer for retirement purposes, 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement Offi5 cers Equity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUDING CERTAIN POSITIONS WITHIN THE DEFI2 NITION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER 

3 FOR PURPOSES OF RETIREMENT. 

4 (a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (17) of section 

6 8401 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), and 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(E) an employee (not otherwise covered 

10 by this paragraph)— 

11 ‘‘(i) the duties of whose position in12 clude the investigation or apprehension of 

13 individuals suspected or convicted of of14 fenses against the criminal laws of the 

15 United States; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) who is authorized to carry a fire17 arm; 

18 ‘‘(F) an employee of the Internal Revenue 

19 Service, the duties of whose position are pri20 marily the collection of delinquent taxes and the 

21 securing of delinquent returns; 

22 ‘‘(G) an employee of the United States 

23 Postal Inspection Service; and 

24 ‘‘(H) an employee of the Department of 

25 Veterans Affairs who is a Department police of26 ficer under section 902 of title 38;’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 8401(17)(C) of title 5, United States Code, is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) and (B)’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), (E), (F), 

5 (G), and (H)’’. 

6 (b) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Para7 graph (20) of section 8331 of title 5, United States Code, 

8 is amended in the matter before subparagraph (A) by in9 serting after ‘‘position.’’ the following: ‘‘For the purpose 

10 of this paragraph, the employees described in the pre11 ceding provision of this paragraph (in the matter before 

12 ‘including’) shall be considered to include an employee, not 

13 otherwise covered by this paragraph, who satisfies any of 

14 subparagraphs (E) through (H) of section 8401(17).’’. 

15 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

16 section shall apply— 

17 (1) to any individual appointed as a law en18 forcement officer under section 8331(20) or 

19 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code, (as the case 

20 may be), as amended this section, after the date of 

21 enactment of this Act; and 

22 (2) to any incumbent (as defined in section 

23 3(g)(2)), consistent with the requirements of section 

24 3. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCUMBENT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 

2 (a) TREATMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMED BY IN3 CUMBENTS.— 

4 (1) SERVICE ON OR AFTER DATE OF ENACT5 MENT.—Service performed by an incumbent on or 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 

7 treated as service performed as a law enforcement 

8 officer under section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of title 

9 5, United States Code, (as the case may be), as 

10 amended by section 2. 

11 (2) SERVICE BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT.— 

12 Service performed by an incumbent before the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act shall, for purposes of 

14 subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 

15 5, United States Code, be treated as service per16 formed as a law enforcement officer under section 

17 8331(20) or 8401(17), (as the case may be), as 

18 amended by section 2, but only if a written election 

19 is submitted to the Office of Personnel Management 

20 within 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act or before separation from Government serv22 ice, whichever is earlier. 

23 (b) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV24 ICE.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—An incumbent who makes an 

26 election under subsection (a)(2) may, with respect to 


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1 prior service performed by such incumbent, pay a 

2 deposit into the Civil Service Retirement and Dis3 ability Fund equal to the sum of— 

4 (A) the difference between— 

5 (i) the amount that would have been 

6 deducted during the period of prior service 

7 under section 8334 or 8422 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, from the pay of the 

9 incumbent if the amendments made by sec10 tion 2 had been in effect during such prior 

11 service; and 

12 (ii) the amount that was deducted 

13 during the period of prior service under 

14 section 8334 or 8422 of such title; and 

15 (B) interest on the amount described in 

16 subparagraph (A)(i), as computed in accordance 

17 with paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 8334(e) 

18 of such title and regulations promulgated by the 

19 Office. 

20 (2) EFFECT OF NOT CONTRIBUTING.—If no 

21 part of or less than the full amount of the deposit 

22 described under paragraph (1) is paid by an incum23 bent, all prior service of the incumbent shall remain 

24 fully creditable as a law enforcement officer, but the 

25 resulting annuity shall be reduced in a manner simiVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:00 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2254.IH H2254

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1 lar to that described in section 8334(d)(2) of title 5, 

2 United States Code, to the extent necessary to make 

3 up the amount unpaid. 

4 (c) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV5 ICE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an incumbent makes an 

7 election under subsection (a)(2), any employing 

8 agency that the incumbent was serving at the time 

9 of any prior service shall remit to the Office, for de10 posit in the Fund, an amount equal to the sum of— 

11 (A) the difference between— 

12 (i) the total amount of Government 

13 contributions that would have been paid 

14 under section 8334 or 8423 of title 5, 

15 United States Code, if the amendments 

16 made by section 2 had been in effect dur17 ing such service; and 

18 (ii) the total amount of Government 

19 contributions paid under section 8334 or 

20 8423 of such title; and 

21 (B) interest on the amount described in 

22 subparagraph (A)(i), as computed in accordance 

23 with paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 8334(e) 

24 of such title and regulations promulgated by the 

25 Office. 


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1 (2) CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE MADE RATABLY.— 

2 Government contributions under this subsection on 

3 behalf of an incumbent shall be made by the agency 

4 ratably (on at least an annual basis) over the 10- 

5 year period beginning on the date referred to in sub6 section (g)(5). 

7 (d) EXEMPTION FROM MANDATORY SEPARATION.— 

8 Notwithstanding section 8335(b) or 8425(b) of title 5, 

9 United States Code, a law enforcement officer shall not 

10 be subject to mandatory separation during the 3-year pe11 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Office shall prescribe regu13 lations to carry out this Act, including regulations for the 

14 application of this section in the case of any individual 

15 entitled to a survivor annuity (based on the service of an 

16 incumbent who dies before making an election under sub17 section (a)(2)), to the extent of any rights that would then 

18 be available to the decedent (if still living). 

19 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec20 tion shall be considered to apply in the case of a reem21 ployed annuitant. 

22 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

23 (1) the term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Civil Service 

24 Retirement and Disability Fund; 

25 (2) the term ‘‘incumbent’’— 


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1 (A) is first appointed as a law enforcement 

2 officer before the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act; and 

4 (B) is serving as such a law enforcement 

5 officer on such date; 

6 (3) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ refers to 

7 an individual who satisfies the requirements of sec8 tion 8331(20) or 8401(17) of title 5, United States 

9 Code (relating to the definition of a law enforcement 

10 officer) by virtue of the amendments made by sec11 tion 2; 

12 (4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Per13 sonnel Management; 

14 (5) the term ‘‘prior service’’ means, with re15 spect to any individual who makes an election under 

16 subsection (a)(2), service performed by such indi17 vidual before the date on which appropriate retire18 ment deductions begin to be made in accordance 

19 with such election; and 

20 (6) the term ‘‘service’’ refers to service per21 formed as a law enforcement officer. 

Æ 


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