Evening star., 1948-02-07
Retirement Bill
Enactment Seen
As Certainty !
Conferees Agree on
Liberal Terms; Ioft
Accepts Compromise
By Joseph Young

Final enactment of the ciM serv-
ice retirement bill appeared a cer-
tainty today, as conferees started
preparing the official report on the
measure.
Agreement was reached yesterday
afternoon by the House-Senate con-
ferees on the measure. to be pre-
sented to the House and Senate.
House approval is expected late
next week or the week following.
and the Senate is due to follow suit
quickly. President Truman then Is
expected to afflx his signature to
the bill.
The bills provisions will become
effective two months after they be-
come law.
Regarded as Very Liberal.
The conferees' measure is re-
garded by the bills sponsors as a
very liberal bill and well worth
waiting for" Yesterdays agree
ment climaxed more than years
efforts to get liberalized retirement
benefits for Government workers.
After the conferees agreed on the
bill late yesterday, Chairman Lang
er of the Senate Civil Service Com
mittee, one of the original spon-
sors of the measure. declared:
This is the most constructive
and far-reaching program for Fed
era. employees that any Congress
has ever considered and marks a
real milestone of progress"
Final accord was reached when
the conferees agreed on a compro-
mise solution to the 35-year credit
limitation proposed by Senator Taft,
Republican, of Ohio, who appeared
at the meeting,
Credit for Every Year.
Senator Taft urged the conferees
to restore the provision in the Sen
ate bill, limiting to IS the number
of years to be used as credit in
computing employees annuities, A
compromise was reached, however,
and the 35-year limitation was
knocked out of the measure. This
means that employees will get credit
for every year they have been in
the Government.
But, in return for this concession,
the conferees agreed to limit to 30
per cent of employees top earnings
over a five-year period the annuity
they will be entitled to get when
they retire. Previously, this limita-
ton had been 80 per cent. This
will offset, to some degree, the in
creased cost of the no-ceiling limi-
tation to the Government.
Highlights of Measure.
Briefly. here are the highlights
of the conferees' measure:
No limitation on the number of
years credited to an employe for
years of service.
Annuity increases averaging sew
eral hundred dollars year to Gov
ernment employees upon retirement.
Annuity increases OF Is per cent
or $500, whichever is smaller, to
those Government workers already
retired
Dependency benefits to widows
and orphans of men who die in the
Federal service.
Permission to withdraw money
from the retirement fund when
leaving the Government If the en-
ploye has less than 20 years of
service. At present the limit is 10
years. Or, the employe can leave
the money in the fund and receive
an annuity when he reaches re-
tirement age.
Employees to pay SO.
Reduced annuity payments to
Government workers, SIS years old
with Is years or more of service.
who have been involuntarily sepa-
rated from the service.
In return for the benefits, Gov
ernment workers will pay 6 per cent
of their salaries instead of the pres
ent per cent.
The bill will be known as the
Stevenson bill, named after its
sponsor in the House, Representa-
tive Stevenson, Republican, OF Wis
consin. Chairman Rees of the House
Civil Service Committee also played
a large part in getting the measure
enacted On the Senate side, the
measures original sponsors were
Senators LANCER and Chavez Sen
ator Taft later threw his support
behind the legislation.