WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 
For the Week of 4 May 2001 

I. THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS:

The House and Senate were both in session this week.

The House passed H.R. 10, the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act.  The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for action.

(See related article at item II).

The Senate debated and passed cloture on the Administration's education bill.  The Senate continues to consider amendments to the legislation.

House and Senate conferees reached agreement on the budget, and a conference report was initially filed on 3 May. Prior to the vote, however, it was noticed that two pages were missing from the conference report (H. Rpt. 107 55). The House and Senate must meet once again and submit a new version of the Report before it can be approved. Final action on the Budget is expected by the end of the week of 7 May.

II. THE FACTS ON H.R. 10, the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act.

The Fraternal Order of Police strongly supports H.R. 10, because it would provide assistance to state and local governments and their employees by:

Providing Enhanced Portability Between Retirement Plans: When a public employee leaves a public sector job, the employee is generally not permitted to rollover pension plan assets among and between various defined contribution and deferred compensation plans. For example, contributions to a 457 plan must now remain in the account until it is distributed to the employee. This proposal would allow rollovers of retirement assets between governmental Section 457 deferred compensation plans and other contributory pensions plans, including IRAs, 403(b) and 401 plans when an employee switches jobs.

Permitting Purchase of Service Credits with 457/403(b) Assets: Many public sector defined benefit pension plans offer participants the opportunity to purchase credit for prior periods of service in the same or other jurisdictions, as it can make a substantial difference in retirement benefits under these programs. However, at the present time, assets in a Section 457 or 403(b) account may not be used for such purchases without incurring taxes or federal early distribution penalties. This provision would permit assets held in these plans to be used to purchase permissive service credits or for the repayment of refunds in public sector defined benefit plans.

Modernizing Governmental 457 Deferred Compensation Plan Rules: Unlike other salary reduction plans, participants in governmental 457 plans have little flexibility in determining the date of first distribution and in changing their distribution amounts once they have begun. This makes it very difficult for employees to structure the receipt of their payments to meet changing retirement needs. Additionally, an active employee's benefits under a Section 457 plan may not be paid to a former spouse pursuant to a domestic relations order without violating the otherwise applicable restrictions on inservice distributions. Proposed provisions would allow for greater flexibility in 457 plan distributions and provide equitable tax treatment to domestic relations order distributions, similar to treatment afforded by other retirement vehicles.

Removing Complex Compensation based Limits:  At this time, contributions to retirement plans are not only limited by a dollar amount, but are further capped by limits based on a percentage of compensation which unfairly curtails the retirement savings of relatively non-highly paid workers.  Compliance with the complex calculation used to determine the compensation based limits is also burdensome for employers and individuals covered by these arrangements. This provision would remove compensation-based limits on contributions to plans, including a repeal of the complicated Section 403(b) Maximum Exclusion Allowance tests.

Updating Benefit and Contribution Limits and Providing Catchup Contributions:  Increased federal restrictions and limits placed on retirement plans since the early 1980s have had an adverse effect on the administration of plans and on the improvement of benefits. Primarily attributable to efforts to reduce the federal deficit, the limits on contributions and benefits are harsher today than they were two decades ago. Proposed changes would stimulate increased savings in retirement plans by updating benefit and contribution limits. Additionally, proposals would allow those approaching retirement to have increased savings opportunities. For individuals who have been unable to take advantage of retirement savings vehicles throughout their career due to lack of disposable income or periods of leave from the workforce, proposed catchup contributions would provide the opportunity to make up for those past contributions, and would be particularly helpful to women.

All of these provisions would help employees save for their retirement, permit States to further enhance their pension programs, and act to modernize and simplify the administration of public retirement plans.

III. UPDATE ON TOP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES:

No new cosponsors were added to H.R. 21 (Lautenberg).  Our current total is thirteen (13).

Six new cosponsors were added to H.R. 218 (Concealed Carry), bringing our current total to one hundred and four (104).  The legislative office has sent a letter to every member of the House who sponsored the bill in the previous Congress asking them to again cosponsor this important legislation.  A hearing on H.R. 218 had been scheduled for 10 May, but was cancelled by full Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI).  We will be pursuing the issue at that level in the next few weeks.

No new cosponsors were added to H.R. 1475 (Collective Bargaining).  Our current total is one hundred and thirty-four (134).  We are currently discussing draft legislation with Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Ted  Kennedy(D-MA), who intend to drop the Senate companion bill before the end of the month.

No new cosponsors were added to H.R. 1626 (Due Process).  Our current total is one (1).  The legislative office has also sent a letter to every member of the House who sponsored this bill in the previous Congress asking them to do so again.  Senators Joe Biden (D-DE) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will be introducing the Senate companion on 8 May.

Ten new cosponsors were added to H.R. 664 (Government Pension Offset), bringing our current total to two hundred and eleven (211).  We need seven (7) additional cosponsors before we have a majority of the House of Representatives.

Three new cosponsors were added to S. 611 (Government Pension Offset), bringing our current total to seventeen (17).

No new cosponsors were added to H.R. 848 (Windfall).  Our current total is sixty-four (64).

IV. UPDATE ON REINTRODUCTION OF LEO RETIREMENT LEGISLATION:

On Monday, 14 May, the F.O.P. will join Rep. Bob Filner(D-CA) at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol to announce the reintroduction of the Congressman’s legislation expanding LEO or 6(c) retirement to uniformed Federal police officers and other law enforcement employees.  As of this writing, the following members have signed on as original cosponsors to this legislation:

Cosponsors of H.R. 1228 in the 106th Congress:

New Cosponsors for the 107th Congress:

If your representative is not on this list, please contact them and ask them to contact Mary Niez with Representative Filner’s office and become an original cosponsor of this important legislation.  If you do not know the phone number for your Member of Congress, contact the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

V. OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY:

S. 166, the "James Guelff Body Armor Act" was scheduled to be marked-up by the Senate Judiciary Committee on 3 May.  The bill was not considered.  Intentional absence by all Democratic members prevented a quorum, meaning no business could be conducted.  The boycott was triggered by partisan disagreements about the procedure for confirming the Administration's judicial nominees.

Fraternal Order of Police  (O) (202) 547-8189
National Legislative Office (F) (202) 547-8190
309 Massachusetts Ave., NE
Washington, DC 20002
FOP National Legislative Office

Fraternal Order of Police Grand Lodge

 

 

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Last Updated: Wednesday, December 21st, 2005