I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2850 
To provide for enhanced retirement benefits for administrative law judges. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2009 
Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To provide for enhanced retirement benefits for 
administrative law judges. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Administrative Law Judges Retirement Act of 2009’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section 
or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provision of title 5, United 
States Code. 
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SEC. 2. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE CIVIL SERVICE RE-
TIREMENT SYSTEM. 
(a) DEFINITION.—Section 8331 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (30), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (31), by striking the period 
and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(32) ‘administrative law judge’ means an ad-
ministrative law judge appointed under section 3105 
or a similar prior provision of law.’’. 
(b) DEDUCTIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND DEPOS-
ITS.—Section 8334 is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘or cus-
toms and border protection officer,’’ and inserting 
‘‘customs and border protection officer, or adminis-
trative law judge,’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(1)(B)— 
(A) in the first sentence of clause (i), by 
striking ‘‘clause (ii),’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (ii) 
or (iii),’’; and 
(B) by adding after clause (ii) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) In the case of an administrative law judge, the 
amount to be contributed under this subparagraph shall 
(instead of the amount described in clause (i)) be equal 
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to the amount derived by multiplying the administrative 
law judge’s basic pay by the percentage that is 1 percent-
age point less than the percentage applicable under sub-
section (c).’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c), by adding after the item 
relating to a nuclear materials courier the following: 
‘‘Administrative law judge .........................
5 ..........
June 11, 1947, to June 
30, 1948. 
6 ..........
July 1, 1948, to Octo-
ber 31, 1956. 
6.5 .......
November 1, 1956, to 
December 31, 1969. 
7 ..........
January 1, 1970, to De-
cember 31, 1998. 
7.25 .....
January 1, 1999, to De-
cember 31, 1999. 
7.4 .......
January 1, 2000, to De-
cember 31, 2000. 
7 ..........
January 1, 2001, to 
(but not including) 
the effective date of 
the Administrative 
Law Judges Retire-
ment Act of 2009. 
8 ..........
The effective date of the 
Administrative Law 
Judges Retirement 
Act of 2009 and 
thereafter.’’. 
(c) IMMEDIATE RETIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8336 is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(q) An employee who is separated from the service 
after completing 10 years of service as an administrative 
law judge and becoming 60 years of age is entitled to an 
annuity. An employee who is separated from the service 
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voluntarily after completing 10 years of service as an ad-
ministrative law judge but before becoming 60 years of 
age is entitled to a reduced annuity.’’. 
(2) DISCONTINUED
SERVICE
OR
EARLY
VOL-
UNTARY RETIREMENT.—Section 8336(d) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of 
an administrative law judge, the preceding provi-
sions of this subsection shall be applied by treating 
any reference in such provisions to removal or sepa-
ration for ‘misconduct or delinquency’ or for ‘mis-
conduct or unacceptable performance’ to refer to re-
moval under section 1215, 7521, or 7532.’’. 
(d) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY.—Section 8339 is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘(r), and (s)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(r), (s), and (v)’’; 
(2) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘The annuity computed under subsections 
(f) and (v) for a employee retiring under the second 
sentence of section 8336(q) is reduced by 1⁄12 of 1 
percent for each full month not in excess of 60 
months, and 1⁄6 of 1 percent for each full month in 
excess of 60 months, the employee is under 60 years 
of age at the date of separation.’’; 
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(3) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘(r), or (s)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(r), (s), or (v)’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(v) The annuity of an employee retiring under sec-
tion 8336(q) is computed under subsection (a), except, if 
the employee has had at least 5 years’ service as an ad-
ministrative law judge, the employee’s annuity is com-
puted with respect to— 
‘‘(1) such employee’s service as an administra-
tive law judge; and 
‘‘(2) such employee’s military service not ex-
ceeding 5 years; 
by multiplying 21⁄2 percent of such employee’s average pay 
by the years of that service.’’. 
(e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Sections 8337(a) and 8339(g) are amended by striking 
‘‘or (s)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(s), or (v)’’. 
(2) Subsections (j), (k)(1), (l), and (m) of section 
8339, subsections (b)(1) and (d) of section 8341, section 
8343a(c), and section 8344(a)(A) are amended by striking 
‘‘and (s)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(s), and 
(v)’’. 
(3) Subsections (j)(3) (in the third sentence before 
the sentence containing subparagraph (A)), (j)(5)(C)(iii), 
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and (k)(2)(C) of section 8339 are amended by striking 
‘‘and (r)’’ and inserting ‘‘(r), and (v)’’. 
(4) Section 8335(a) is amended by striking 
‘‘8331(29)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘8331(30)(A)’’. 
SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE FEDERAL EMPLOY-
EES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM. 
(a) DEFINITION.—Section 8401 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (35), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (36), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(37) ‘administrative law judge’ means an ad-
ministrative law judge appointed under section 3105 
or a similar prior provision of law.’’. 
(b) EARLY
RETIREMENT.—Section 8414(b) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) In the case of an administrative law judge, the 
preceding provisions of this subsection shall be applied by 
treating any reference in such provisions to removal or 
separation for ‘misconduct or delinquency’ or for ‘mis-
conduct or unacceptable performance’ to refer to removal 
under section 1215, 7521, or 7532.’’. 
(c) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY.—Section 8415 is 
amended— 
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(1) in subsection (h)(2), by striking all that fol-
lows ‘‘air traffic controller,’’ and inserting ‘‘customs 
and border protection officer, or administrative law 
judge.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) The annuity of an administrative law judge, or 
a former administrative law judge, retiring under this sub-
chapter is computed under subsection (a), except that if 
the individual has had at least 5 years of service as an 
administrative law judge, so much of the annuity as is 
computed with respect to such type of service, not exceed-
ing a total of 20 years, shall be computed by multiplying 
17⁄10 percent of such employee’s average pay by the years 
of that service.’’. 
(d) DEDUCTIONS FROM PAY.—Section 8422(a)(3) is 
amended by adding after the item relating to a customs 
and border protection officer the following: 
‘‘Administrative law judge .........................
7 ..........
January 1, 1987, to De-
cember 31, 1998. 
7.25 .....
January 1, 1999, to De-
cember 31, 1999. 
7.4 .......
January 1, 2000, to De-
cember 31, 2000. 
7 ..........
January 1, 2001, to 
(but not including) 
the effective date of 
the Administrative 
Law Judges Retire-
ment Act of 2009. 
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8 ..........
The effective date of the 
Administrative Law 
Judges Retirement 
Act of 2009 and 
thereafter.’’. 
(e) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 8423 is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘and 
employees under sections 302 and 303 of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency Retirement Act, multiplied 
by’’ and inserting ‘‘employees under sections 302 
and 303 of the Central Intelligence Agency Retire-
ment Act, and administrative law judges, multiplied 
by’’; 
(2) by amending paragraph (2) of subsection 
(a) to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) In determining any normal-cost percentage to 
be applied under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) amounts provided for under section 8422 
shall be taken into account; and 
‘‘(B) amounts provided by or for administrative 
law judges under subchapter III of chapter 83 (in-
cluding sections 8334 and 8348, and whether pro-
vided before, on, or after the effective date of this 
subparagraph) shall, to the extent they exceed the 
normal cost of the benefits which are (i) provided for 
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under subchapter III of chapter 83, and (ii) attrib-
utable to service performed as an administrative law 
judge (within the meaning of such subchapter), be 
taken into account as if they had been provided by 
or for administrative law judges under this chap-
ter.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by inserting ‘‘ad-
ministrative law judges,’’ after ‘‘military reserve 
technicians,’’ each place it appears. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments 
made by this Act— 
(1) shall take effect 6 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act; and 
(2) except as provided in subsection (b), shall 
apply only with respect to administrative law judges 
first appointed on or after the effective date of this 
Act. 
(b) EXCEPTION.— 
(1) ELECTION FOR INCUMBENTS.—The amend-
ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
any individual serving as an administrative law 
judge on the effective date of this Act if appropriate 
written application is submitted to the Office of Per-
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sonnel Management within 12 months after such ef-
fective date. 
(2) TREATMENT OF PRIOR SERVICE.— 
(A) DEPOSIT
REQUIREMENT.—An indi-
vidual who makes an election under paragraph 
(1) shall, with respect to any administrative law 
judge service performed by such individual prior 
to the date as of which deductions from such 
individual’s pay begin to be made in accordance 
with the amendments made by this Act, be re-
quired to pay into the Civil Service Retirement 
and Disability Fund an amount equal to the 
difference between— 
(i) the unrefunded individual contribu-
tions that were made for such prior serv-
ice; and 
(ii) the individual contributions that 
would have been required if the rate (or 
rates) in effect for such prior service had 
been equal to the rate (or rates) actually in 
effect for such prior service, increased by 1 
percentage point, 
without interest. 
(B) EFFECT OF NOT MAKING DEPOSIT.— 
If or to the extent that any amounts under sub-
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paragraph (A) are not paid by an individual 
making an election under paragraph (1), any 
annuity based on the service of such indi-
vidual— 
(i) shall be computed in accordance 
with the amendments made by this Act; 
but 
(ii) shall be reduced in a manner simi-
lar 
to 
that 
set 
forth 
in 
section 
8334(d)(2)(B) of title 5, United States 
Code. 
(3) SURVIVOR ANNUITANTS.—In the case of an 
individual described in paragraph (1) who dies be-
fore the end of the 12-month period beginning on 
the effective date of this Act, any application or de-
posit under this subsection may, for purposes of any 
survivor annuity based on the service of such indi-
vidual, also be made by a survivor of such individual. 
(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘administrative law judge’’ means an administrative 
law judge appointed under section 3105 of title 5, United 
States Code, or a similar prior provision of law. 
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(d) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man-
agement may prescribe any regulations necessary to carry 
out this section. 
Æ 
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