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 CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—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), contribu-
tions 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—
H. R. 4324—2
(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 lit-
eracy 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 mag-
istrate judge’s’’; and
(B) in paragraphs (4)(B) and (8), by striking ‘‘bank-
ruptcy 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.