LEO Fair Retirement Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2828 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that for purposes of computing the annuity of certain law enforcement officers, any hours worked in excess of the limitation applicable to law enforcement premium pay shall be included in such computation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2019 Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. SWALWELL of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee 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 for purposes of computing the annuity of certain law en- forcement officers, any hours worked in excess of the limitation applicable to law enforcement premium pay shall be included in such computation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2828 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘LEO Fair Retirement Act of 2019’’. 3 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 4 (1) Federal law enforcement officers are never 5 ‘‘off-duty’’. They are counted on to respond at any 6 time of the day or night, regardless of their official 7 duty status, to protect the public safety. Outside of 8 our Nation’s Armed Forces, theirs is the only pro- 9 fession comprised of individuals who are routinely 10 called upon to put their lives on the line to keep 11 America safe. 12 (2) Though the Federal Government may house 13 the largest variety of occupations of any U.S. em- 14 ployer across its panoply of agencies and entities, 15 Federal law enforcement is absolutely unique among 16 them, and the Federal law enforcement officer has 17 no counterpart in the private sector. It is one of the 18 most stressful, most dangerous, and most rewarding 19 careers for those who meet the rigorous require- 20 ments of the job. 21 (3) It was in recognition of the unique nature 22 of the occupation, and the demanding schedules re- 23 quired of those who fill its ranks, that Congress es- 24 tablished distinct pay and benefit systems for Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2828 IH eral law enforcement positions. This includes basic 1 pay, retirement, and even overtime compensation. 2 (4) Under current law, however, the payment of 3 overtime compensation is limited, and is only pay- 4 able to the extent that the payments do not cause 5 the aggregate of the law enforcement officer’s bi- 6 weekly or annual pay to exceed the pay caps estab- 7 lished under section 5547 of title 5, United States 8 Code. This often results in a law enforcement officer 9 working significant amounts of overtime hours year 10 after year for which the officer is never com- 11 pensated. 12 (5) In light of the continuing homeland and na- 13 tional security threats facing our Nation, it is in the 14 interest of the Federal Government to ensure that it 15 can continue to recruit and retain the highest caliber 16 personnel by allowing Federal law enforcement offi- 17 cers the opportunity to reclaim full credit in retire- 18 ment for overtime hours worked but never paid. 19 SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY FOR HOURS WORKED 20 IN EXCESS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PREMIUM 21 PAY LIMITATIONS. 22 (a) CSRS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2828 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8339 of title 5, 1 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 2 end the following: 3 ‘‘(v)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 4 title, including sections 5545a and 5547, and consistent 5 with the requirements of paragraph (2), any premium pay 6 described in section 5547(a) that would have been received 7 by a law enforcement officer but for the limitation pro- 8 vided in such section shall be included in the average pay 9 of such officer for purposes of computing the annuity of 10 such officer under this section. 11 ‘‘(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply unless the law 12 enforcement officer makes a lump-sum payment to the Of- 13 fice in the manner prescribed under this paragraph. 14 ‘‘(B) The officer may— 15 ‘‘(i) not later than 180 days before the date 16 that the officer’s annuity will commence, request 17 from the Office an estimate (expressed as a dollar 18 figure) of— 19 ‘‘(I) the lump-sum payment described 20 under subparagraph (C); 21 ‘‘(II) the amount of the officer’s monthly 22 annuity payment if the officer elects to make 23 the lump-sum payment and receive an amended 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2828 IH annuity that includes the application of para- 1 graph (1); and 2 ‘‘(III) the amount of such officer’s monthly 3 annuity payment if the officer does not make 4 such an election; and 5 ‘‘(ii) consistent with the requirements of sub- 6 paragraph (D), not later than 90 days after receipt 7 of the estimate under clause (i), irrevocably elect to 8 make the lump-sum payment to the Office. 9 ‘‘(C) If a law enforcement officer makes an election 10 pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), such officer shall make 11 a lump-sum payment to the Office equal to the difference 12 between— 13 ‘‘(i) the amount that would have been contrib- 14 uted by the officer and the employer under section 15 8334 during the 3 consecutive years used to deter- 16 mine average pay (as described under section 17 8331(4)) if the rate of basic pay of the officer dur- 18 ing such period of years included any premium pay 19 described in section 5547(a) that would have been 20 received by a law enforcement officer but for the 21 limitation provided in such section; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the amount that was so contributed during 23 such period of years. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2828 IH ‘‘(D) The officer may elect an actuarial annuity re- 1 duction, consistent with regulations prescribed by the Of- 2 fice, in lieu of the lump-sum payment required under sub- 3 paragraphs (B) and (C). 4 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘law enforcement of- 5 ficer’ has the meaning given the term ‘qualified public 6 safety employee’ in section 72(t)(10) of the Internal Rev- 7 enue Code of 1986.’’. 8 (2) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ANNUITY 9 LIMIT.—The limitation provided in section 8339(f) 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to any an- 11 nuity calculated pursuant to subsection (v) of such 12 section (as added by paragraph (1)). 13 (b) FERS.—Section 8415 of title 5, United States 14 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(o)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 16 title, including sections 5545a and 5547, and consistent 17 with the requirements of paragraph (2), any premium pay 18 described in section 5547(a) that would have been received 19 by a law enforcement officer but for the limitation pro- 20 vided in such section shall be included in the average pay 21 of such officer for purposes of computing the annuity of 22 such officer under this section. 23 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply unless the law en- 24 forcement officer makes a lump-sum payment to the Office 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2828 IH in the same manner as prescribed under section 1 8339(v)(2). 2 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘law enforcement of- 3 ficer’ has the meaning given the term ‘qualified public 4 safety employee’ in section 72(t)(10) of the Internal Rev- 5 enue Code of 1986.’’. 6 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub- 7 section (a) and (b) shall apply to any applicable annuity 8 calculated on or after the date that is one year after the 9 date of enactment of this Act. 10 (d) REGULATIONS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 13 the Office of Personnel Management shall promul- 14 gate regulations to carry out sections 8339(v) and 15 8415(o) of title 5, United States Code, as added by 16 subsections (a) and (b). 17 (2) LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—Such regulations 18 shall include— 19 (A) procedures under which any law en- 20 forcement officer covered by such sections may 21 make the lump-sum payment as described 22 under sections 8339(v)(2) and 8415(o)(2) of 23 title 5, United States Code, as added by sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2828 IH sections (a) and (b), from amounts within the 1 officer’s Thrift Savings Fund account; and 2 (B) procedures, promulgated in consulta- 3 tion with the Thrift Savings Board, under 4 which a transfer may be made from such ac- 5 count to the Office of Personnel Management. 6 (3) SOLICITATION OF PAYROLL INFORMA- 7 TION.—Such regulations shall include— 8 (A) guidance for agencies employing law 9 enforcement officers for proper retention of 10 payroll information required to carry out the 11 amendments made by subsection (a) and (b), 12 including, for each creditable year of service, 13 the difference between the amount the law en- 14 forcement officer received in gross compensa- 15 tion and the amount that would have been re- 16 ceived as gross compensation but for the appli- 17 cation of the premium pay caps in section 5547 18 of title 5, United States Code; and 19 (B) procedures for the Director to solicit 20 sufficient payroll information from the head of 21 each applicable agency to provide for the com- 22 putations required by the amendments made by 23 this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2828 IH SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR AVAILABILITY PAY FOR POSTAL 1 INSPECTORS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5545a of title 5, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(l) The provisions of subsections (a)–(h) providing 6 for availability pay shall apply to a Postal Inspector. For 7 the purpose of this section, section 5542(d) of this title, 8 and section 13(a)(16) and (b)(30) of the Fair Labor 9 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(16) and 10 (b)(30)), a Postal Inspector shall be deemed to be a crimi- 11 nal investigator as defined in this section. For purposes 12 of this subsection, the term ‘Postal Inspector’ has the 13 meaning given such term under section 1003(c) of title 14 39.’’. 15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 410(b)(11) 16 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by striking 17 ‘‘Section 5520a’’ and inserting ‘‘Sections 5520a and 18 5545a’’. 19 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR CERTAIN LUMP-SUM PAYMENTS OF 20 UNCOMPENSATED LAW ENFORCEMENT PRE- 21 MIUM PAY. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, there 23 shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by 24 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the 25 taxable year an amount equal to the sum of the lump- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2828 IH sum payments made by the individual during such taxable 1 year pursuant to section 8339(v)(2) or 8415(o)(2) of title 2 5, United States Code, with respect to an annuity of such 3 individual. 4 (b) TREATED AS NON-REFUNDABLE PERSONAL 5 CREDIT.—For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 6 1986, the credit allowed under subsection (a) shall be 7 treated as a credit allowed under subpart A of part IV 8 of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS