II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1916

To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor 

Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, 

to provide for a one-year open season under that plan, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Ms. LANDRIEU introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL

To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the 

minimum Survivor Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, to provide for a oneyear open season under that plan, 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 ‘‘Military Survivor Ben5 efits Improvement Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FULL SBP SURVIVOR BENEFITS FOR SURVIVING 

2 SPOUSES OVER AGE 62. 

3 (a) PHASED INCREASE IN BASIC ANNUITY.—

4 (1) INCREASE TO 55 PERCENT.—Subsection 

5 (a)(1)(B)(i) of section 1451 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘35 percent of 

7 the base amount.’’ and inserting ‘‘the product of the 

8 base amount and the percent applicable for the 

9 month. The percent applicable for a month is 35 

10 percent for months beginning before October 2005, 

11 40 percent for months beginning after September 

12 2005 and before October 2008, 45 percent for 

13 months beginning after September 2008, and 55 

14 percent for months beginning after September 

15 2014.’’. 

16 (2) RESERVE-COMPONENT ANNUITY.—Sub17 section (a)(2)(B)(i)(I) of such section is amended by 

18 striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the percent 

19 specified under paragraph (1)(B)(i) as being applica20 ble for the month’’. 

21 (3) SPECIAL-ELIGIBILITY ANNUITY.—Sub22 section (c)(1)(B)(i) of such section is amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘the applicable percent’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

26 ‘‘The percent applicable for a month under the 
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1 preceding sentence is the percent specified 

2 under subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) as being applica3 ble for the month.’’. 

4 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading 

5 for subsection (d)(2)(A) of such section is amended 

6 to read as follows: ‘‘COMPUTATION OF

7 ANNUITY.—’’. 

8 (b) PHASED ELIMINATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL AN9 NUITY.—

10 (1) DECREASING PERCENTAGES.—Section 

11 1457(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amend12 ed—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘5, 10, 15, or 20 percent’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘the applicable percent’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting after the first sentence 

16 the following: ‘‘The percent used for the com17 putation shall be an even multiple of 5 percent 

18 and, whatever the percent specified in the elec19 tion, may not exceed 20 percent for months be20 ginning before October 2005, 15 percent for 

21 months beginning after September 2005 and 

22 before October 2008, and 10 percent for 

23 months beginning after September 2008.’’. 
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1 (2) REPEAL OF PROGRAM IN 2014.—Effective 

2 on October 1, 2014, chapter 73 of such title is 

3 amended—

4 (A) by striking subchapter III; and 

5 (B) by striking the item relating to sub6 chapter III in the table of subchapters at the 

7 beginning of that chapter. 

8 (c) RECOMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.—

9 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR RECOMPUTATION.—Ef10 fective on the first day of each month referred to in 

11 paragraph (2)—

12 (A) each annuity under section 1450 of 

13 title 10, United States Code, that commenced 

14 before that month, is computed under a provi15 sion of section 1451 of that title amended by 

16 subsection (a), and is payable for that month 

17 shall be recomputed so as to be equal to the 

18 amount that would be in effect if the percent 

19 applicable for that month under that provision, 

20 as so amended, had been used for the initial 

21 computation of the annuity; and 

22 (B) each supplemental survivor annuity 

23 under section 1457 of such title that com24 menced before that month and is payable for 

25 that month shall be recomputed so as to be 
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1 equal to the amount that would be in effect if 

2 the percent applicable for that month under 

3 that section, as amended by this section, had 

4 been used for the initial computation of the 

5 supplemental survivor annuity. 

6 (2) TIMES FOR RECOMPUTATION.—The require7 ments for recomputation of annuities under para8 graph (1) apply with respect to the following 

9 months: 

10 (A) October 2005. 

11 (B) October 2008. 

12 (C) October 2014. 

13 (d) RECOMPUTATION OF RETIRED PAY REDUCTIONS

14 FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SURVIVOR ANNUITIES.—The Sec15 retary of Defense shall take such actions as are neces16 sitated by the amendments made by subsection (b) and 

17 the requirements of subsection (c)(1)(B) to ensure that 

18 the reductions in retired pay under section 1460 of title 

19 10, United States Code, are adjusted to achieve the objec20 tives set forth in subsection (b) of that section. 

21 SEC. 3. OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD FOR SURVIVOR BEN22 EFIT PLAN COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2005. 

23 (a) PERSONS NOT CURRENTLY PARTICIPATING IN

24 SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN.—
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1 (1) ELECTION OF SBP COVERAGE.—An eligible 

2 retired or former member may elect to participate in 

3 the Survivor Benefit Plan under subchapter II of 

4 chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, during

5 the open enrollment period specified in subsection 

6 (f). 

7 (2) ELECTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL ANNUITY

8 COVERAGE.—An eligible retired or former member 

9 who elects under paragraph (1) to participate in the 

10 Survivor Benefit Plan at the maximum level may 

11 also elect during the open enrollment period to par12 ticipate in the Supplemental Survivor Benefit Plan 

13 established under subchapter III of chapter 73 of 

14 title 10, United States Code. 

15 (3) ELIGIBLE RETIRED OR FORMER MEMBER.—

16 For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2), an eligible 

17 retired or former member is a member or former 

18 member of the uniformed services who on the day 

19 before the first day of the open enrollment period is 

20 not a participant in the Survivor Benefit Plan and—

21 (A) is entitled to retired pay; or 

22 (B) would be entitled to retired pay under 

23 chapter 1223 of title 10, United States Code, 

24 but for the fact that such member or former 

25 member is under 60 years of age. 
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1 (4) STATUS UNDER SBP OF PERSONS MAKING

2 ELECTIONS.—

3 (A) STANDARD ANNUITY.—A person mak4 ing an election under paragraph (1) by reason 

5 of eligibility under paragraph (3)(A) shall be 

6 treated for all purposes as providing a standard 

7 annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan. 

8 (B) RESERVE-COMPONENT ANNUITY.—A 

9 person making an election under paragraph (1) 

10 by reason of eligibility under paragraph (3)(B) 

11 shall be treated for all purposes as providing a 

12 reserve-component annuity under the Survivor 

13 Benefit Plan. 

14 (b) ELECTION TO INCREASE COVERAGE UNDER

15 SBP.—A person who on the day before the first day of 

16 the open enrollment period is a participant in the Survivor 

17 Benefit Plan but is not participating at the maximum base 

18 amount or is providing coverage under the Plan for a de19 pendent child and not for the person’s spouse or former 

20 spouse may, during the open enrollment period, elect to—

21 (1) participate in the Plan at a higher base 

22 amount (not in excess of the participant’s retired 

23 pay); or 

24 (2) provide annuity coverage under the Plan for 

25 the person’s spouse or former spouse at a base 
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1 amount not less than the base amount provided for 

2 the dependent child. 

3 (c) ELECTION FOR CURRENT SBP PARTICIPANTS TO

4 PARTICIPATE IN SUPPLEMENTAL SBP.—

5 (1) ELECTION.—A person who is eligible to 

6 make an election under this paragraph may elect 

7 during the open enrollment period to participate in 

8 the Supplemental Survivor Benefit Plan established 

9 under subchapter III of chapter 73 of title 10, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE.—Except as provided in 

12 paragraph (3), a person is eligible to make an elec13 tion under paragraph (1) if on the day before the 

14 first day of the open enrollment period the person is 

15 a participant in the Survivor Benefit Plan at the 

16 maximum level, or during the open enrollment pe17 riod the person increases the level of such participa18 tion to the maximum level under subsection (b) of 

19 this section, and under that Plan is providing annu20 ity coverage for the person’s spouse or a former 

21 spouse. 

22 (3) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN

23 SBP PARTICIPANTS NOT AFFECTED BY TWO-TIER

24 ANNUITY COMPUTATION.—A person is not eligible to 

25 make an election under paragraph (1) if (as deter-
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1 mined by the Secretary concerned) the annuity of a 

2 spouse or former spouse beneficiary of that person 

3 under the Survivor Benefit Plan is to be computed 

4 under section 1451(e) of title 10, United States 

5 Code. However, such a person may during the open 

6 enrollment period waive the right to have that annu7 ity computed under such section 1451(e). Any such 

8 election is irrevocable. A person making such a waiv9 er may make an election under paragraph (1) as in 

10 the case of any other participant in the Survivor 

11 Benefit Plan. 

12 (d) MANNER OF MAKING ELECTIONS.—An election 

13 under this section shall be made in writing, signed by the 

14 person making the election, and received by the Secretary 

15 concerned before the end of the open enrollment period. 

16 Any such election shall be made subject to the same condi17 tions, and with the same opportunities for designation of 

18 beneficiaries and specification of base amount, that apply 

19 under the Survivor Benefit Plan or the Supplemental Sur20 vivor Benefit Plan, as the case may be. A person making 

21 an election under subsection (a) to provide a reserve-com22 ponent annuity shall make a designation described in sec23 tion 1448(e) of title 10, United States Code. 

24 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR ELECTIONS.—Any such 

25 election shall be effective as of the first day of the first 
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1 calendar month following the month in which the election 

2 is received by the Secretary concerned. 

3 (f) OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD.—The open enroll4 ment period under this section shall be the one-year period 

5 beginning on October 1, 2005. 

6 (g) EFFECT OF DEATH OF PERSON MAKING ELEC7 TION WITHIN TWO YEARS OF MAKING ELECTION.—If a 

8 person making an election under this section dies before 

9 the end of the two-year period beginning on the effective 

10 date of the election, the election is void and the amount 

11 of any reduction in retired pay of the person that is attrib12 utable to the election shall be paid in a lump sum to the 

13 person who would have been the deceased person’s bene14 ficiary under the voided election if the deceased person 

15 had died after the end of such two-year period. 

16 (h) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF

17 LAW.—The provisions of sections 1449, 1453, and 1454 

18 of title 10, United States Code, are applicable to a person 

19 making an election, and to an election, under this section 

20 in the same manner as if the election were made under 

21 the Survivor Benefit Plan or the Supplemental Survivor 

22 Benefit Plan, as the case may be. 

23 (i) ADDITIONAL PREMIUM.—The Secretary of De24 fense may require that the premium for a person making 

25 an election under subsection (a)(1) or (b) include, in addi-
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1 tion to the amount required under section 1452(a) of title 

2 10, United States Code, an amount determined under reg3 ulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the 

4 purposes of this subsection. Any such amount shall be 

5 stated as a percentage of the base amount of the person 

6 making the election and shall reflect the number of years 

7 that have elapsed since the person retired, but may not 

8 exceed 4.5 percent of that person’s base amount. 

9 (j) REPORT CONCERNING OPEN SEASON.—Not later 

10 than July 1, 2005, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 

11 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 

12 the House of Representatives a report on the open season 

13 authorized by this section for the Survivor Benefit Plan. 

14 The report shall include the following: 

15 (1) A description of the Secretary’s plans for 

16 implementation of the open season. 

17 (2) The Secretary’s estimates of the costs asso18 ciated with the open season, including any antici19 pated effect of the open season on the actuarial sta20 tus of the Department of Defense Military Retire21 ment Fund. 

22 (3) Any recommendation by the Secretary for 

23 further legislative action.

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