Title: Shutdown Relief Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Shutdown Relief Act
This bill requires that a lapse in appropriations (i.e., government shutdown) shall be deemed a financial hardship for the purpose of allowing Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants to make withdrawals from their TSP accounts.
Federal employees participating in the TSP may withdraw funds from their accounts up to the amount of the annual salary they would have received but for such lapse. Such withdrawals shall be without penalty if the funds are returned to the TSP account within 180 days.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 673 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 673

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that a lapse in 
   discretionary appropriations constitutes a financial hardship for 
 purposes of a withdrawal from the Thrift Savings Plan, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 17, 2019

   Mrs. Luria (for herself, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Griffith, Ms. 
  Houlahan, Mr. Jones, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Scott of 
  Virginia, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Slotkin, and Ms. 
 Spanberger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that a lapse in 
   discretionary appropriations constitutes a financial hardship for 
 purposes of a withdrawal from the Thrift Savings Plan, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shutdown Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FOR PURPOSES OF TSP FINANCIAL 
              HARDSHIP DETERMINATION.

    Section 8433(h) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(6)(A) Beginning on or after December 22, 2018, any lapse 
        in the appropriations of an account providing the salary of an 
        employee shall be deemed a financial hardship for purposes of 
        paragraph (1)(B).
            ``(B) A withdrawal by operation of subparagraph (A) may not 
        be greater than the amount of annual salary that the employee 
        would have received but for such lapse in appropriations.
            ``(C)(i) Section 72(t) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        shall not apply to any Federal Government shutdown 
        distribution.
            ``(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term `Federal 
        Government shutdown distribution' means any distribution by an 
        applicable individual from the Thrift Savings Fund made during 
        a lapse in appropriations with respect to such individual, by 
        operation of subparagraph (A), but only to the extent, not 
        later than 180 days after the date of such distribution, such 
        amount is contributed (in such manner as the Board shall 
        prescribe) to the individual's account.
            ``(iii) For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
        if a contribution described in clause (ii) is made by an 
        individual with respect to a Federal Government shutdown 
        distribution, then the individual shall, to the extent of the 
        amount of the contribution, be treated as having received the 
        Federal Government shutdown distribution in an eligible 
        rollover distribution (as defined in section 402(c)(4) of such 
        Code) and as having transferred the amount to an eligible 
        retirement plan in a direct trustee to trustee transfer within 
        60 days of the distribution.''.
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