I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 214
To provide that Federal pay be made subject to garnishment.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 5, 1993
Mr. JACOBS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Post Office and Civil Service
NOVEMBER 22, 1993
Additional sponsors: Mr. SHAYS, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Mr.
SANTORUM, Mrs. MYERS of Kansas, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. OXLEY, Mr.
PARKER, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. LEWIS of Florida, Mr. WALSH, Mr.
MCCANDLESS, Mr. KLUG, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr.
LIVINGSTON, Mr. MYERS of Indiana, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr.
SMITH of Oregon, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr.
SUNDQUIST, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. ALLARD, Mr.
ARMEY, Mr. MINGE, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. RICH-
ARDSON, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. UPTON, Mr. MCCURDY, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr.
BACHUS of Alabama, Ms. SHEPHERD, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. GOSS, Mr. EM-
ERSON, Mr. PAXON, Mr. KING, Mr. HOKE, Mr. VENTO, Mr. THOMAS of
Wyoming, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. PAYNE of
Virginia, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. BARCIA of Michigan, Mr.
MCCRERY, Mr. PENNY, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr.
TORKILDSEN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. PETERSON of Min-
nesota, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Ms.
SNOWE, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey,
Mr. STUMP, Ms. FURSE, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. COX, Mr. SCHAEFER,
Mr. SAXTON, Mr. GORDON, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.
SWETT, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. DICKS, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. SHU-
STER, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. PETRI, Mr. CRANE, Ms. SLAUGH-
TER, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. HYDE, Mr. CASTLE, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr.
HAMILTON, Mr. BREWSTER, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. DARDEN, Mrs. FOWLER,
Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. AN-
DREWS of New Jersey, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. MEEHAN,
Mr. PORTER, Mr. BLUTE, Ms. LONG, Ms. LAMBERT, Mr. DURBIN, Ms.
DUNN, and Mr. GOODLATTE
A BILL
To provide that Federal pay be made subject to garnishment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Garnishment Equali-
zation Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. GARNISHMENT OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ PAY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 55 of
title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘§ 5520a. Garnishment of pay
‘‘(a) For the purpose of this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ means—
‘‘(A) an Executive agency (other than the
General Accounting Office);
‘‘(B) an agency of the judicial branch of
the Government; and
‘‘(C) an agency of the legislative branch of
the Government, including the General Ac-
counting Office, the office of a Member of Con-
gress, a committee of either House or a joint
committee of the 2 Houses, and any other office
of Congress;
‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee of
an agency or member of the uniformed services;
‘‘(3) the term ‘private person’ means a person
who does not have sovereign or other special immu-
nity or privilege which causes such person not to be
subject to legal process;
‘‘(4) the term ‘legal process’ means any writ,
order, summons, or other similar process in the na-
ture of garnishment, which—
‘‘(A) is issued by—
‘‘(i) a court of competent jurisdiction
within any State, territory, or possession of
the United States;
‘‘(ii) a court of competent jurisdiction
in any foreign country with which the
United States has entered into an agree-
ment which requires the United States to
honor such process; or
‘‘(iii) an authorized official pursuant
to an order of such a court of competent
jurisdiction or pursuant to State or local
law; and
‘‘(B) is directed to, and the purpose of
which is to compel, in accordance with applica-
ble law, an agency which holds moneys which
are otherwise payable to an individual, to make
a payment from such moneys to another party
in order to satisfy a debt;
‘‘(5) entitlement of an individual to any money
shall be deemed to be ‘based upon remuneration for
employment’ if such money consists of compensation
paid or payable for personal services of such individ-
ual, whether such compensation is denominated as
pay, wages, salary, bonus, or otherwise, and includes
severance pay and incentive pay, but does not in-
clude—
‘‘(A) awards for making suggestions;
‘‘(B) any payments under chapter 83 or
84, or any other retirement system for employ-
ees; or
‘‘(C) amounts paid to such individual, by
way of reimbursement or otherwise, by such in-
dividual’s employing agency, to defray expenses
incurred by such individual in carrying out du-
ties associated with such individual’s employ-
ment;
‘‘(6) the term ‘process to which an agency is
subject under this section’ does not include any legal
process described in section 462(e) of the Social Se-
curity Act; and
‘‘(7) the term ‘debt’ does not include any legal
obligation referred to in section 462(e)(2) of the So-
cial Security Act.
‘‘(b) Subject to the provisions of this section and the
provisions of section 303 of the Consumer Credit Protec-
tion Act, moneys (the entitlement to which is based upon
remuneration for employment) due from, or payable by,
an agency to any individual for service as an employee
shall be subject, in like manner and to the same extent
as if the United States were a private person, to legal
process brought for the satisfaction of a debt owed to an-
other party.
‘‘(c)(1) Service of legal process under this section
may be accomplished by certified or registered mail, return
receipt requested, or by personal service, upon—
‘‘(A) the appropriate agent designated for re-
ceipt of such service of process pursuant to regula-
tions issued under this section; or
‘‘(B) if no agent has been designated for the
agency having payment responsibility for the moneys
involved, then upon the head of such agency.
‘‘(2) Such legal process shall be accompanied by suffi-
cient information to permit prompt identification of the
individual and the moneys involved.
‘‘(d) No employee whose duties include responding to
interrogatories pursuant to requirements imposed by this
section shall be subject under any law to any disciplinary
action or civil or criminal liability or penalty for, or on
account of, any disclosure of information made by such
employee with the carrying out of any of such employee’s
duties which pertain (directly or indirectly) to the answer-
ing of any such interrogatory.
‘‘(e) Whenever any person, who is designated by law
or regulation to accept service of process to which an agen-
cy is subject under this section, is effectively served with
any such process or with interrogatories relating to an in-
dividual’s obligation in connection with a particular debt,
such person shall respond thereto within 30 days (or with-
in such longer period as may be prescribed by applicable
State law) after the date effective service thereof is made,
and shall, as soon as possible but not later than 15 days
after the date effective service is made, send written notice
that such process has been so served (together with a copy
thereof) to the affected employee at such employee’s duty
station or last–known home address.
‘‘(f) Agencies affected by legal process under this sec-
tion shall not be required to vary their normal pay and
disbursement cycles in order to comply with any such legal
process.
‘‘(g) Neither the United States, an agency, nor any
disbursing officer shall be liable with respect to any pay-
ment made from moneys due or payable from the United
States to any individual pursuant to legal process regular
on its face, if such payment is made in accordance with
this section and the regulations prescribed to carry out
this section.
‘‘(h)(1) In the event that an agency, which is author-
ized under this section or the regulations prescribed to
carry out this section to accept service of process, is served
with more than 1 legal process with respect to the same
moneys due or payable to any individual, then such mon-
eys shall be available to satisfy such processes on a first–
come, first–served basis, with any such process being sat-
isfied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction
of all such processes which have been previously served,
subject to paragraph (2).
‘‘(2) In the event of service of legal process under
this section and the service of legal process (as defined
by section 462(e) of the Social Security Act) under section
459 of the Social Security Act, with respect to the same
moneys due or payable to an individual, priority shall be
given to the legal process (as defined by such section
462(e)) served under such section 459.
‘‘(i) In determining the amount of any payment due
from, or payable by, an agency to an individual, there shall
be excluded those amounts which would be excluded under
section 462(g) of the Social Security Act.
‘‘(j) Nothing in this section shall modify or supersede
any provision of section 459, 461, or 462 of the Social
Security Act.
‘‘(k)(1) Regulations to carry out this section shall—
‘‘(A) with respect to agencies under subsection
(a)(1)(A), be prescribed by the President or the
President’s designee;
‘‘(B) with respect to agencies under subsection
(a)(1)(B), be prescribed by the Chief Justice of the
United States or the Chief Justice’s designee; and
‘‘(C) with respect to agencies under subsection
(a)(1)(C), be prescribed jointly by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives and the President pro
tempore of the Senate, or their designee.
‘‘(2) Such regulations shall provide that an agency’s
administrative costs in executing a garnishment action
may be added to the garnishment, and that the agency
may retain costs recovered as offsetting collections.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended
by inserting after the item relating to section 5520 the
following:
‘‘5520a. Garnishment of pay.’’.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE.
Section 1005 of title 39, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g) The provisions of section 5520a of title 5 shall
apply to officers and employees of the Postal Service.’’.
SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect
180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and shall
apply with respect to any legal process served on or after
that effective date.
Æ