108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3763
To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor
Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, to provide
for a one-year open season under that plan, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2004
Mr. MILLER of Florida (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. TURNER of Ohio, Mr.
SNYDER, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BERRY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr.
ISAKSON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA, Mr. HINCHEY,
Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BOYD,
Mr. QUINN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MICA, Mr. KING of Iowa,
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. VITTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. EDWARDS,
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. SCOTT
of Georgia, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CRANE,
Mr. GOSS, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. BAKER,
Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina,
Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. SCHROCK, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. COLLINS, Mr.
LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. GOODE, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. MICHAUD,
Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. REYES, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MEEKS of New York,
Mr. PEARCE, Ms. HART, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. NEY, Mr. FORBES, Mr. KING of New York,
Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. HAYES, Mr. CALVERT, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia,
Mr. COOPER, Mr. BALLANCE, Mr. FORD, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. SMITH of Washington,
Mr. FROST, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TURNER
of Texas, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. SANDERS,
Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. WICKER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ALEXANDER, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. HOOLEY
of Oregon, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. BURR, Mr.
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. CUNNINGHAM,
Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. KELLER, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KUCINICH,
Mr. SPRATT, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode
Island, Mr. OTTER, Ms. HARMAN, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. JOHN, Mr. MOORE, Mr. PETERSON
of Minnesota, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr.
UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON
of Illinois, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ROSS, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. KIND, Ms. LEE, Mr.
BONNER, Mr. TERRY, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr.
ENGEL, Mr. OLVER, Ms. MAJETTE, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. DICKS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms.
CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. PICKERING, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD,
Mr. BOSWELL, Mrs. BONO, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. WATERS,
Mr. MURPHY, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. ROTHMAN,
Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. TANNER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut,
Mr. CRAMER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania,
Mr. BAIRD, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. SOUDER, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan,
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. PORTER, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr.
KIRK, Mr. DOYLE, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. MANZULLO, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr.
BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BERMAN,
Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PETERSON
of Pennsylvania, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. HAYWORTH, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr.
JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. TOWNS,
Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. GALLEGLY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr.
HALL, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. BELL, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr.
CASE, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. OSE, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California,
Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. BACA, Mr. MARSHALL,
Mr. SAXTON, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEINER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SHAW, Mr.
SCHIFF, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor
Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, to provide
for a one-year open season under that 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 `Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of
2004'.
SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF BENEFITS UNDER SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN FOR SURVIVING
SPOUSES OVER AGE 62.
(a) Phased Increase in Basic Annuity-
(A) INCREASE TO 55 PERCENT- Clause (i) of subsection (a)(1)(B) of section
1451 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking `35 percent
of the base amount.' and inserting `the product of the base amount and
the percent applicable to the month, as follows:
`(I) For a month before October 2005, the applicable percent is 35
percent.
`(II) For months after September 2005 and before October 2008, the
applicable percent is 40 percent.
`(III) For months after September 2008 and before October 2014, the
applicable percent is 45 percent.
`(IV) For months after September 2014, the applicable percent is 55
percent.'.
(B) Coordination with savings provision under prior law- Clause (ii) of
such subsection is amended by striking `, at the time the beneficiary
becomes entitled to the annuity,'.
(2) Reserve-component annuity- Subsection (a)(2)(B)(i)(I) of such section
is amended by striking `35 percent' and inserting `the percent specified
under subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) as being applicable for the month'.
(3) Survivors of eligible persons dying on active duty, etc-
(A) INCREASE TO 55 PERCENT- Clause (i) of subsection (c)(1)(B) of such
section is amended--
(i) by striking `35 percent' and inserting `the applicable percent';
and
(ii) by adding at the end the following: `The percent applicable for
a month under the preceding sentence is the percent specified under
subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) as being applicable for that month.'.
(B) Coordination with savings provision under prior law- Clause (ii) of
such subsection is amended by striking `, at the time the beneficiary
becomes entitled to the annuity,'.
(4) Clerical amendment- The heading for subsection (d)(2)(A) of such section
is amended to read as follows: `COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY- '.
(b) Corresponding Phased Elimination of Supplemental Annuity-
(1) Phased reduction of supplemental annuity- Section 1457(b) of title 10,
United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking `5, 10, 15, or 20 percent' and inserting `the applicable
percent'; and
(B) by inserting after the first sentence the following: `The percent
used for the computation shall be an even multiple of 5 percent and, whatever
the percent specified in the election, may not exceed 20 percent for months
before October 2005, 15 percent for months during fiscal years 2006, 2007,
and 2008, and 10 percent for months during fiscal years 2009 through 2014.'.
(2) REPEAL UPON IMPLEMENTATION OF 55 PERCENT SBP ANNUITY- Effective on October
1, 2014, chapter 73 of such title is amended--
(A) by striking subchapter III; and
(B) by striking the item relating to subchapter III in the table of subchapters
at the beginning of that chapter.
(c) Recomputation of Annuities-
(1) Periodic recomputation required- Effective on the first day of each
month specified in paragraph (2)--
(A) each annuity under section 1450 of title 10, United States Code, that
commenced before that month, is computed under a provision of section
1451 of that title amended by subsection (a), and is payable for that
month shall be recomputed so as to be equal to the amount that would be
in effect if the percent applicable for that month under that provision,
as so amended, had been used for the initial computation of the annuity;
and
(B) each supplemental survivor annuity under section 1457 of such title
that commenced before that month and is payable for that month shall be
recomputed so as to be equal to the amount that would be in effect if
the percent applicable for that month under that section, as amended by
this section, had been used for the initial computation of the supplemental
survivor annuity.
(2) Time for recomputation- The requirement under paragraph (1) for recomputation
of certain annuities applies with respect to the following months:
(d) Recomputation of Retired Pay Reductions for Supplemental Survivor Annuities-
The Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as are necessitated by the
amendments made by subsection (b) and the requirements of subsection (c)(1)(B)
to ensure that the reductions in retired pay under section 1460 of title 10,
United States Code, are adjusted to achieve the objectives set forth in subsection
(b) of that section.
SEC. 3. OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD FOR SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN COMMENCING OCTOBER
1, 2005.
(a) Persons not Currently Participating in Survivor Benefit Plan-
(1) Election of sbp coverage- An eligible retired or former member may elect
to participate in the Survivor Benefit Plan under subchapter II of chapter
73 of title 10, United States Code, during the open enrollment period specified
in subsection (f).
(2) Election of supplemental annuity coverage- An eligible retired or former
member who elects under paragraph (1) to participate in the Survivor Benefit
Plan at the maximum level may also elect during the open enrollment period
to participate in the Supplemental Survivor Benefit Plan established under
subchapter III of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Eligible retired or former member- For purposes of paragraphs (1) and
(2), an eligible retired or former member is a member or former member of
the uniformed services who on the day before the first day of the open enrollment
period is not a participant in the Survivor Benefit Plan and--
(A) is entitled to retired pay; or
(B) would be entitled to retired pay under chapter 1223 of title 10, United
States Code, but for the fact that such member or former member is under
60 years of age.
(4) Status under sbp of persons making elections-
(A) Standard annuity- A person making an election under paragraph (1)
by reason of eligibility under paragraph (3)(A) shall be treated for all
purposes as providing a standard annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan.
(B) Reserve-component annuity- A person making an election under paragraph
(1) by reason of eligibility under paragraph (3)(B) shall be treated for
all purposes as providing a reserve-component annuity under the Survivor
Benefit Plan.
(b) Election to Increase Coverage Under SBP- A person who on the day before
the first day of the open enrollment period is a participant in the Survivor
Benefit Plan but is not participating at the maximum base amount or is providing
coverage under the Plan for a dependent child and not for the person's spouse
or former spouse may, during the open enrollment period, elect to--
(1) participate in the Plan at a higher base amount (not in excess of the
participant's retired pay); or
(2) provide annuity coverage under the Plan for the person's spouse or former
spouse at a base amount not less than the base amount provided for the dependent
child.
(c) Election for Current SBP Participants to Participate in Supplemental SBP-
(1) Election- A person who is eligible to make an election under this paragraph
may elect during the open enrollment period to participate in the Supplemental
Survivor Benefit Plan established under subchapter III of chapter 73 of
title 10, United States Code.
(2) Persons eligible- Except as provided in paragraph (3), a person is eligible
to make an election under paragraph (1) if on the day before the first day
of the open enrollment period the person is a participant in the Survivor
Benefit Plan at the maximum level, or during the open enrollment period
the person increases the level of such participation to the maximum level
under subsection (b) of this section, and under that Plan is providing annuity
coverage for the person's spouse or a former spouse.
(3) Limitation on eligibility for certain sbp participants not affected
by two-tier annuity computation- A person is not eligible to make an election
under paragraph (1) if (as determined by the Secretary concerned) the annuity
of a spouse or former spouse beneficiary of that person under the Survivor
Benefit Plan will be computed under section 1451(e) of title 10, United
States Code. However, such a person may during the open enrollment period
waive the right to have that annuity computed under such section. Any such
election is irrevocable. A person making such a waiver may make an election
under paragraph (1) as in the case of any other participant in the Survivor
Benefit Plan.
(d) Manner of Making Elections- An election under this section must be made
in writing, signed by the person making the election, and received by the
Secretary concerned before the end of the open enrollment period. Any such
election shall be made subject to the same conditions, and with the same opportunities
for designation of beneficiaries and specification of base amount, that apply
under the Survivor Benefit Plan or the Supplemental Survivor Benefit Plan,
as the case may be. A person making an election under subsection (a) to provide
a reserve-component annuity shall make a designation described in section
1448(e) of title 10, United States Code.
(e) Effective Date for Elections- Any such election shall be effective as
of the first day of the first calendar month following the month in which
the election is received by the Secretary concerned.
(f) Open Enrollment Period Defined- The open enrollment period is the one-year
period beginning on October 1, 2005.
(g) Effect of Death of Person Making Election Within Two Years of Making Election-
If a person making an election under this section dies before the end of the
two-year period beginning on the effective date of the election, the election
is void and the amount of any reduction in retired pay of the person that
is attributable to the election shall be paid in a lump sum to the person
who would have been the deceased person's beneficiary under the voided election
if the deceased person had died after the end of such two-year period.
(h) Applicability of Certain Provisions of Law- The provisions of sections
1449, 1453, and 1454 of title 10, United States Code, are applicable to a
person making an election, and to an election, under this section in the same
manner as if the election were made under the Survivor Benefit Plan or the
Supplemental Survivor Benefit Plan, as the case may be.
(i) Additional Premium- The Secretary of Defense may require that the premium
for a person making an election under subsection (a)(1) or (b) include, in
addition to the amount required under section 1452(a) of title 10, United
States Code, an amount determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary
of Defense for the purposes of this subsection. Any such amount shall be stated
as a percentage of the base amount of the person making the election and shall
reflect the number of years that have elapsed since the person retired, but
may not exceed 4.5 percent of that person's base amount.
(j) Report Concerning Open Season- Not later than July 1, 2005, the Secretary
of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and
the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report on
the open season authorized by this section for the Survivor Benefit Plan.
The report shall include the following:
(1) A description of the Secretary's plans for implementation of the open
season.
(2) The Secretary's estimates of the costs associated with the open season,
including any anticipated effect of the open season on the actuarial status
of the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund.
(3) Any recommendation by the Secretary for further legislative action.
END
