HR 548 IH

To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, and for other purposes.

February 8, 2001

Mr. SCARBOROUGH (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. PETRI, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. SAXTON, and Mr. PICKERING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older, 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 2001'.

SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF SURVIVOR BENEFITS.

(a) INCREASED BASIC ANNUITY- (1) Subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) 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 for the month. The percent applicable for a month is 35 percent for months beginning on or before the date of the enactment of the Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001, 40 percent for months beginning after such date and before October 2004, 45 percent for months after September 2004 and before October 2011, and 55 percent for months after September 2011.'.

(2) 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) Subsection (c)(1)(B)(i) of such section is amended--

(A) by striking `35 percent' and inserting `the applicable percent'; and

(B) 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.'.

(4) The heading for subsection (d)(2)(A) of such section is amended to read as follows: `COMPUTATION OF ANNUITY- '.

(b) ADJUSTED SUPPLEMENTAL ANNUITY- Section 1457(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking `5, 10, 15, or 20 percent' and inserting `the applicable percent'; and

(2) 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 beginning on or before the date of the enactment of the Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001, 15 percent for months beginning after that date and before October 2004, and 10 percent for months after September 2004 and before October 2011. For months after September 2011, the percent used for the computation shall be zero.'.

(c) RECOMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES- (1) Effective on the first day of each month referred to 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) The requirements for recomputation of annuities under paragraph (1) apply with respect to the following months:

(A) The first month that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(B) October 2004.

(C) October 2011.

(d) RECOMPUTATION OF RETIRED PAY REDUCTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SURVIVOR ANNUITIES- (1) Effective on the first day of each month referred to in paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as are required by the amendments made by subsection (b) and the provisions 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. Such adjustments shall be applied to retired pay reductions applicable to every person who has elected to provide a supplemental spouse annuity under the provisions of section 1457 of title 10, United States Code, regardless of the date of such election.

(2) The requirements for recomputation of retired pay reductions under paragraph (1) apply with respect to the following months:

(A) The first month that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(B) October 2004.

(C) October 2011.

END