5 1 road Retirement Act of 1937" after "monthly insur 2 ance benefits under title II of this Act" in 2 (D) thereof. 3 12 SEC. 4. (a) The provisions of this Act, except the pro4 visions of section 1, shall be effective as of the date the cor5 responding provisions of Public Law 92-603 are effective. 6 The provisions of clauses (xi) and (xii), which are added 7 by section 1 of this Act, shall be effective as follows: clause 8 (xi) shall be effective with respect to calendar years after 9 1971 for annuities accruing after December 1972; and 10 clause (xii) shall be effective as of the date the delayed 11 retirement provision of Public Law 92-603 is effective. (b) Any child (1) whose entitlement to an annuity 13 under section 5 (c) of the Railroad Retirement Act was ter14 minated by reason of his adoption prior to the enactment of 15 this Act, and (2) who, except for such adoption, would 16 be entitled to an annuity under such section for a month 17 after the month in which this Act is enacted, may, upon 18 filing application for an annuity under the Railroad Retire19 ment Act after the date of enactment of this Act, become 20 reentitled to such annuity; except that no child shall, by 21 reason of the enactment of this Act, become reentitled to 22 such annuity for any month prior to the effective date of 23 the relevant amendments made by this Act to section 5 (1) 24 (1) (ii) of the Railroad Retirement Act. This is the report of the Railroad Retirement Board on S. 1886, which was introduced by Mr. Hathaway on May 23, 1973. For the reasons stated below, the Board favors the bill and hopes for its early enactment. The amendments proposed by the bill were discussed with representatives of railroad management (Association of American Railroads) and railroad labor (Congress of Railway Unions and Railway Labor Executives' Association) who are also in favor of the bill. The enactment of the amendments proposed by section 1 of the bill would -2 Honorable Harrison A. Williams, Jr. S. 1886 retirement annuity formula. It is a rare case where the inclusion of post-retirement social security earnings in the guaranty provision computation would result in an annuity previously paid at the rate provided by the regular formula being transferred to the rate provided under the guaranty provision. Therefore, in order to relieve the Board of the problems created by the aforementioned requirement, clauses (ix) and (x) were added to Section 3(e) of the Act by Public Law 92-460 to provide that, in computing the "average monthly wage" for purposes of determining the amount payable under the guaranty provision, only the individual's social security earnings through the year before his annuity began to accrue would be included. While the provisions of clauses (ix) and (x) of Section 3(e) of the Railroad Retirement Act fully accomplished the purpose intended under the law in existence at the time of their enactment, the Social Security Act was amended shortly thereafter by Public Law 92-603 to provide special minimum primary insurance amounts (see section 215(a)(3) of that Act) and so-called "increment month" increases (see section 202 (w) of that Act). Since the determination of either a special minimum primary insurance amount or an increment month increase does not involve the computation of an "average monthly wage", the provisions of clauses (ix) and (x) are not applicable in making such determinations, and, therefore, the purpose of these clauses is defeated to a significant extent. Enactment of section 1 of the bill would fully effectuate the original purpose of the clauses in question. As a result of the enactment of Public Law 92-603, approved October 30, 1972, the eligibility conditions for children's benefits under the Social Security Act were liberalized, and the amendments proposed by section 2 of this bill would make the same liberalizations for annuities payable under the Railroad Retirement Act. Thus (1) a child's survivor benefit would continue after his adoption by anyone, instead of by a close relative only (section 1(1) of the bill); (2) a survivor benefit would be paid to a child for a disability which began before age 22, instead of before age 18 (section 1(2) of the bill); (3) a student child would continue to receive benefits after age 22 in some cases (section 1(5) of the bill); and (4) a dependent grandchild would be treated as a child of his grandparent (section 1(3) of the bill). In addition, as a result of the change mentioned in item (2), a wife under age 62 (if her husband has attained age 65 and has been awarded an annuity) or a widow under age 60 would be eligible for a railroad retirement annuity if she has in her care a child who became disabled between the ages of 18 and 22. -3 Honorable Harrison A. Williams, Jr. S. 1886 The amendments proposed by section 2 of the bill were originally included in the bill for technical amendments sponsored last year by the Board. These provisions were deleted from the bill which was subsequently enacted, on October 4, 1972, as Public Law 92-460 because they were contingent upon the enactment of H. R. 1, 92d Congress, and it was believed that H.R. 1 would not be enacted in 1972; H.R. 1, however, was enacted on October 30, 1972, as Public Law 92-603. The costs resulting from these amendments together with the cost and savings from the technical amendments enacted in Public Law 92-460 and additional financial interchange gains because of the enactment of Public Law 92-603 balance out so that no financial burden would result. As The bill would also effect an amendment to section 226 (e) of the Social Security Act to extend kidney disease Medicare coverage to railroad employees, their spouses, and their dependent children. a result of the enactment of section 2991 of Public Law 92-603, an individual insured under the Social Security Act, his spouse, or his dependent children who need treatment (hemodialysis or renal transplantation) for kidney disease are covered under Medicare, beginning July 1, 1973, in the same way as beneficiaries age 65 and over or disabled beneficiaries under age 65. The present provision, however, does not cover railroad employees or their spouses or children unless they also happen to be insured under the Social Security Act on the basis of wages only. Such an omission had to be the result of an oversight since in all other respects railroad retirement beneficiaries are entitled to the same Medicare coverage as their social security counterparts. The proposed amendment would correct this oversight. The Board, therefore, recommends that your Committee act favorably on this bill. A report on the identical bill H.R. 7357, introduced in the House of Representatives on April 30, 1973, by Mr. Staggers, has been cleared with the Office of Management and Budget which informed us that there was no objection to the presentation of the report from the standpoint of the administration's program. CC: Honorable Roy L. Ash Sincerely yours, KoBulh FOR THE BOARD R. F. Butler, Secretary Director, Office of Management and Budget Washington, D. C. 20503 93D CONGRESS 18T SESSION S. 1805 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 14, 1973 Mr. RIBICOFF introduced the following bill; which was read twice and, by unanimous consent, referred to the Committees on Commerce, Finance, and Labor and Public Welfare, jointly A BILL To amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 and the Railroad Retirement Tax Act to revise certain eligibility conditions for annuities; to change the railroad retirement tax rates; and to amend the Interstate Commerce Act in order to improve the procedures pertaining to certain rate adjustments for carriers subject to part I of the Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 1 3 4 5 TITLE I-RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT AMENDMENTS SEC. 101. Section 2 (a) of the Railroad Retirement Act 6 of 1937 is amended 7 8 (1) by striking out "Women" in paragraph 2 and inserting in lieu thereof “individuals”; |