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“THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CSRS RETIREMENT REPAYMENT TECHNICAL CORRECTION ACT OF 2007” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E695 on March 29, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CSRS RETIREMENT REPAYMENT TECHNICAL CORRECTION
ACT OF 2007
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HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the CSRS Retirement Repayment Technical Correction Act of 2007. This bill would correct an unintended consequence that followed the enactment of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-508) on November 5, 1990, and provide relief for Federal employees who were adversely affected by that enactment.
The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990 made retroactive changes to the rules related to separating Federal employees. While the rules were made retroactive to October 1, 1990, the implementing regulations were not promulgated until February 1991. This four month period between the enactment of the law and the promulgation of the implementing regulations has adversely affected any Federal employee who withdrew their retirement contributions during this period.
This matter was brought to my attention by Sandra Schatz Landis, my constituent who was on maternity leave from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a former bureau of the Department of Justice at the time in question. On November 5, 1990, Ms. Landis withdrew $24,439.00 in retirement contributions and was advised that if she later re-entered federal service, she could re-deposit the withdrawal without paying interest and not suffer any adverse consequences.
Unbeknownst to Ms. Landis and the personnel specialists at INS who were advising her, because of the enactment of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 that occurred on that very same day, November 5, 1990, employees who withdrew their retirement contributions as far back as October 1, 1990 were suddenly required to repay their withdrawn contributions with interest in order to have the prior service included in their annuity calculation. What is unfair about this is that employees had no warning that the rules under which they were making major financial decisions were changing. If Ms. Landis were to make this repayment today, she would have to refund over $58,000 of which $34,000 is interest. This is just one example of an unintended injustice that must be corrected.
The CSRS Retirement Repayment Technical Correction Act of 2007 will provide relief to those who withdrew their retirement contributions between Oct 1, 1990, when the Omnibus Reconciliation Act was enacted, and February 1991, when implementing regulations were promulgated. It is fair and reasonable legislation that needs to be enacted into law.
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