H. R. 4324

One Hundred Eighth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four

An Act

To amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for Federal employees

to make elections to make, modify, and terminate contributions to the Thrift

Savings Fund at any time, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ELECTIONS FOR THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN CONTRIBUTIONS.

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Thrift Savings

Plan Open Elections Act of 2004’’.

(b) IN GENERAL.—Section 8432(b)(1)(A) of title 5, United States

Code, is amended—

(1) in the first sentence—

(A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘The Executive Director’’;

and

(B) by striking ‘‘shall be afforded a reasonable period

every 6 months to elect to’’ and inserting ‘‘may’’;

(2) by striking the second sentence; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(ii) An election to make contributions under this paragraph—

‘‘(I) may be made at any time;

‘‘(II) shall take effect on the earliest date after the election

that is administratively feasible; and

‘‘(III) shall remain in effect until modified or terminated.’’.

(c) CONTINUATION OF NOT MAKING IMMEDIATE AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 8432(b)(4)(C) of title 5, United States Code,

is amended—

(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(C)’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) or (B), contributions under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c) shall not

begin to be made with respect to an employee or Member

described under paragraph (2)(A) or (B) until the date that

such contributions would have begun to be made in accordance

with this paragraph as administered on the date preceding

the date of enactment of the Thrift Savings Plan Open Elections

Act of 2004.’’.

(d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

(1) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM PARTICIPATION.—

Section 8351(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is amended

by striking ‘‘only during a period’’ and inserting ‘‘as’’.

(2) CONTRIBUTIONS BY PREVIOUSLY INELIGIBLE

EMPLOYEES.—Section 8432(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code,

is amended—
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(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘second period’’

and inserting ‘‘date’’;

(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘second period’’

and inserting ‘‘date’’; and

(C) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘other than during

a period afforded’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided’’.

(3) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Section 8439(c)(2) of title

5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘at least 30

calendar days before the beginning of each election period under

section 8432(b)(1)(A) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘on a regular

basis’’.

(4) JUSTICES AND JUDGES.—Section 8440a(a)(2) of title 5,

United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘only during a

period’’ and inserting ‘‘as’’.

(5) BANKRUPTCY JUDGES AND MAGISTRATE JUDGES.—Section

8440b(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by

striking ‘‘only during a period’’ and inserting ‘‘as’’.

(6) COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS JUDGES.—Section 8440c(a)(2)

of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘only

during a period’’ and inserting ‘‘as’’.

(7) JUDGES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR

VETERANS CLAIMS.—Section 8440d(a)(2) of title 5, United States

Code, is amended by striking ‘‘only during a period’’ and

inserting ‘‘as’’.

(8) MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Section

8440e(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(A) by striking ‘‘only during a period’’ and inserting

‘‘as’’; and

(B) by striking all after section ‘‘8432(b)’’ and inserting

a period.

SEC. 2. ENHANCING FINANCIAL LITERACY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment

Board (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) shall periodically

evaluate whether the tools available to participants provide the

information needed to understand, evaluate, and compare financial

products, services, and opportunities offered through the Thrift

Savings Plan. The Board shall use these evaluations to improve

its existing education program for Thrift Savings Plan participants.

(b) REPORT ON FINANCIAL LITERACY EFFORTS.—The Board shall

annually report to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the

Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House

of Representatives on its Thrift Savings Plan education efforts

on behalf of plan participants.

(c) STRATEGY.—As part of the retirement training offered by

Office of Personnel Management under section 8350 of title 5,

United States Code, the Office, in consultation with the Board,

shall—

(1) not later than 6 months after the date of enactment

of this Act, develop and implement a retirement financial literacy and education strategy for Federal employees that—

(A) shall educate Federal employees on the need for

retirement savings and investment; and

(B) provide information related to how Federal

employees can receive additional information on how to

plan for retirement and calculate what their retirement
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investment should be in order to meet their retirement

goals; and

(2) submit a report to the Committee on Governmental

Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform

of the House of Representatives on the strategy described under

paragraph (1).

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

Subchapter III of chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code,

is amended—

(1) in section 8433(d)(1), by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and

inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and

(2) in section 8440b(b)—

(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘bankruptcy judge’s

or magistrate’s’’ and inserting ‘‘bankruptcy judge’s or magistrate judge’s’’; and

(B) in paragraphs (4)(B) and (8), by striking ‘‘bankruptcy judge or magistrate’’ each place it appears and

inserting ‘‘bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.