I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 673 

To amend the definition of a law enforcement officer under subchapter III 

of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, respectively, 

to ensure the inclusion of certain positions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2009 

Mr. FILNER (for himself and Mr. MCHUGH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the definition of a law enforcement officer under 

subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 

5, United States Code, respectively, to ensure the inclusion of certain positions. 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 


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

2 8401 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

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

4 by adding at the end the following: 

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

6 by this paragraph)— 

7 ‘‘(i) the duties of whose position in8 clude the investigation or apprehension of 

9 individuals suspected or convicted of of10 fenses against the criminal laws of the 

11 United States; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) who is authorized to carry a fire13 arm; and 

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

15 Service, the duties of whose position are pri16 marily the collection of delinquent taxes and the 

17 securing of delinquent returns;’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

19 8401(17)(C) of title 5, United States Code, is 

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

21 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), (E), and 

22 (F)’’. 

23 (b) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Para24 graph (20) of section 8331 of title 5, United States Code, 

25 is amended by inserting after ‘‘position.’’ (in the matter 


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1 before subparagraph (A)) the following: ‘‘For the purpose 

2 of this paragraph, the employees described in the pre3 ceding provision of this paragraph (in the matter before 

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

5 otherwise covered by this paragraph, who satisfies clauses 

6 (i)–(ii) of section 8401(17)(E) and an employee of the In7 ternal Revenue Service the duties of whose position are 

8 as described in section 8401(17)(F).’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in section 

10 3, the amendments made by this section shall take effect 

11 on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply 

12 only in the case of any individual first appointed as a law 

13 enforcement officer (within the meaning of those amend14 ments) on or after such date. 

15 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMED BY INCUM16 BENTS. 

17 (a) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER AND SERVICE DE18 SCRIBED.— 

19 (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—Any ref20 erence to a law enforcement officer described in this 

21 subsection refers to an individual who satisfies the 

22 requirements of section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of 

23 title 5, United States Code (relating to the definition 

24 of a law enforcement officer) by virtue of the amend25 ments made by section 2. 


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1 (2) SERVICE.—Any reference to service de2 scribed in this subsection refers to service performed 

3 as a law enforcement officer (as described in this 

4 subsection). 

5 (b) INCUMBENT DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, the term ‘‘incumbent’’ means an individual who— 

7 (1) is first appointed as a law enforcement offi8 cer (as described in subsection (a)) before the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act; and 

10 (2) is serving as such a law enforcement officer 

11 on such date. 

12 (c) TREATMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMED BY INCUM13 BENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Service described in sub15 section (a) which is performed by an incumbent on 

16 or after the date of the enactment of this Act shall, 

17 for all purposes (other than those to which para18 graph (2) pertains), be treated as service performed 

19 as a law enforcement officer (within the meaning of 

20 section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of title 5, United 

21 States Code, as appropriate). 

22 (2) RETIREMENT.—Service described in sub23 section (a) which is performed by an incumbent be24 fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act shall, for purposes of subchapter III of chapter 


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1 83 and chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, be 

2 treated as service performed as a law enforcement 

3 officer (within the meaning of such section 8331(20) 

4 or 8401(17), as appropriate), but only if an appro5 priate written election is submitted to the Office of 

6 Personnel Management within 5 years after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act or before separation 

8 from Government service, whichever is earlier. 

9 (d) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV10 ICE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who makes an 

12 election under subsection (c)(2) may, with respect to 

13 prior service performed by such individual, con14 tribute to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability 

15 Fund the difference between the unrefunded indi16 vidual contributions made for such service and the 

17 individual contributions that should have been made 

18 for such service if the amendments made by section 

19 2 had then been in effect. 

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

21 part of or less than the full amount required under 

22 paragraph (1) is paid, all prior service of the incum23 bent shall remain fully creditable as law enforcement 

24 officer service, but the resulting annuity shall be re25 duced in a manner similar to that described in secVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:12 Jan 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H673.IH H673

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1 tion 8334(d)(2) of title 5, United States Code, to 

2 the extent necessary to make up the amount unpaid. 

3 (3) PRIOR SERVICE DEFINED.—For purposes of 

4 this section, the term ‘‘prior service’’ means, with re5 spect to any individual who makes an election under 

6 subsection (c)(2), service (described in subsection 

7 (a)) performed by such individual before the date as 

8 of which appropriate retirement deductions begin to 

9 be made in accordance with such election. 

10 (e) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV11 ICE.— 

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

13 election under subsection (c)(2), the agency in or 

14 under which that individual was serving at the time 

15 of any prior service (referred to in subsection (d)) 

16 shall remit to the Office of Personnel Management, 

17 for deposit in the Treasury of the United States to 

18 the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and Dis19 ability Fund, the amount required under paragraph 

20 (2) with respect to such service. 

21 (2) AMOUNT REQUIRED.—The amount an agen22 cy is required to remit is, with respect to any prior 

23 service, the total amount of additional Government 

24 contributions to the Civil Service Retirement and 

25 Disability Fund (above those actually paid) that 


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1 would have been required if the amendments made 

2 by section 2 had then been in effect. 

3 (3) CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE MADE RATABLY.— 

4 Government contributions under this subsection on 

5 behalf of an incumbent shall be made by the agency 

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

7 year period beginning on the date referred to in sub8 section (d)(3). 

9 (f) EXEMPTION FROM MANDATORY SEPARATION.— 

10 Nothing in section 8335(b) or 8425(b) of title 5, United 

11 States Code, shall cause the involuntary separation of a 

12 law enforcement officer (as described in subsection (a)) 

13 before the end of the 3-year period beginning on the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Office shall prescribe regu16 lations to carry out this Act, including— 

17 (1) provisions in accordance with which interest 

18 on any amount under subsection (d) or (e) shall be 

19 computed, based on section 8334(e) of title 5, 

20 United States Code; and 

21 (2) provisions for the application of this section 

22 in the case of— 

23 (A) any individual who— 

24 (i) satisfies paragraph (1) (but not 

25 paragraph (2)) of subsection (b); and 


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1 (ii) serves as a law enforcement offi2 cer (as described in subsection (a)) after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

4 (B) any individual entitled to a survivor 

5 annuity (based on the service of an incumbent, 

6 or of an individual under subparagraph (A), 

7 who dies before making an election under sub8 section (c)(2)), to the extent of any rights that 

9 would then be available to the decedent (if still 

10 living). 

11 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec12 tion shall be considered to apply in the case of a reem13 ployed annuitant. 

Æ 


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