I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1606

To amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to make certain

temporary Federal service creditable for retirement purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 28, 1999

Mr. KANJORSKI (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. OLVER, Mr.

KLECZKA, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

To amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to

make certain temporary Federal service creditable for

retirement 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 ‘‘FERS Buyback Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. CREDITABILITY OF SERVICE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8411(b) of title 5, United

8 States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (3);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(5) subject to section 8411(i), service as a

7 temporary or intermittent employee not otherwise

8 creditable for purposes of this chapter, performed

9 after December 31, 1988, and before January 1,

10 1999, of at least 1 year’s duration (whether per11 formed over a continuous period or otherwise), but

12 only if the individual performing such service later

13 becomes subject to this chapter, and such service is

14 not credited for purposes of any benefit under any

15 other retirement system established by a law of the

16 United States (disregarding the Social Security Act

17 and chapter 83 of this title).’’.

18 (b) DEPOSIT REQUIREMENT.—Section 8411 of title

19 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(i)(1) An employee or Member shall, with respect

22 to any service described in subsection (b)(5) performed by

23 such employee or Member, be required to deposit to the

24 credit of the Fund an amount equal to 1.3 percent of basic

25 pay for such service.
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1 ‘‘(2) Any deposit under paragraph (1) made more

2 than 5 years after the later of—

3 ‘‘(A) October 1, 1999, or

4 ‘‘(B) the date on which the employee or Mem5 ber making the deposit first becomes an employee or

6 Member following the period of temporary or inter7 mittent service for which such deposit is due,

8 shall include interest on such amount, computed in the

9 manner described in subsection (f)(3) and compounded

10 annually beginning on the date of the expiration of the

11 5-year period.

12 ‘‘(3) If the deposit under paragraph (1) is not made

13 or if less than the entire amount of such deposit is made—

14 ‘‘(A) service of the employee or Member de15 scribed in subsection (b)(5) shall be fully creditable;

16 but

17 ‘‘(B) any annuity under this chapter based on

18 the service of such employee or Member shall be re19 duced in a manner similar to that described in sec20 tion 8418(b).’’.

21 SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO PERSONS WHO HAVE

22 SEPARATED.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Personnel Manage24 ment shall prescribe regulations under which credit for

25 service, as described in section 8411(b)(5) of title 5,
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1 United States Code, as amended by this Act, which was

2 performed by an individual who has separated from Gov3 ernment service may be obtained.

4 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Under the regulations, credit

5 shall not be given under this section unless appropriate

6 written application is submitted, not later than December

7 31, 2001, in such form and manner as the regulations re8 quire.

9 (c) RECOMPUTATION OF ANNUITY.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any annuity or survivor an11 nuity payable as of when an application under this

12 subsection is submitted shall be recomputed to take

13 into account any service described in section

14 8411(b)(5) of title 5, United States Code (performed

15 by the individual on whose service the annuity is

16 based), effective with respect to amounts accruing

17 for months beginning more than 30 days after the

18 date on which such application is submitted.

19 (2) CONDITION.—If the full amount of the de20 posit required under section 8411(i) of such title 5

21 is not timely made (before such deadline as the Of22 fice shall by regulation prescribe) with respect to

23 any service as to which the application under para24 graph (1) relates, an appropriate reduction shall be

25 made in the recomputed annuity in accordance with
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1 paragraph (3) of such section 8411(i). Interest shall

2 not be included as part of any deposit under this

3 subsection.

4 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION AND OTHER DUTIES OF THE OFFICE

5 OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.

6 (a) NOTICE.—The Office of Personnel Management

7 shall take such action as may be necessary and appro8 priate to inform individuals of any rights they might have

9 as a result of the enactment of this Act.

10 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Office shall, on request, assist

11 any individual in obtaining from any department, agency,

12 or other instrumentality of the United States any informa13 tion in the possession of such instrumentality which may

14 be necessary to verify the entitlement of such individual

15 to have any service credited under section 8411(b)(5) of

16 title 5, United States Code, as amended by this Act, or

17 to have an annuity recomputed under section 3(c).

18 (c) INFORMATION.—Any department, agency, or

19 other instrumentality of the United States which possesses

20 any information with respect to an individual’s perform21 ance of any service described in such section 8411(b)(5)

22 shall, at the request of the Office, furnish such informa23 tion to the Office.

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