88 STAT. 1349

Annual report.

45 USC 2310.

45 USC 231p.

45 USC 231q. 42 USC 410.

42 USC 403.

sion plans: Provided, however, That these requirements shall not apply to any actuary who served as a member of the Committee prior to January 1, 1975. The Committee shall examine the actuarial reports and estimates made by the Board and shall have authority to recommend to the Board such changes in actuarial methods as they may deem necessary. The compensation of the members of the Committee, exclusive of the member designated by the Secretary, shall be fixed by the Board on a per diem basis.

"(g) The Board shall include in its annual report a statement of the status and the operations of the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Retirement Supplemental Accounts. At intervals not longer than three years the Board shall make an estimate of the liabilities created by this Act and shall include such estimate in its annual report.

"PRIVATE PENSIONS

"SEC. 16. Nothing in this Act shall be taken as restricting or discouraging payment by employers to retired employees of pensions or gratuities in addition to the annuities paid to such employees under this Act, nor shall this Act be taken as terminating any trust heretofore created for the payment of such pensions or gratuities. The annuity, except a supplemental annuity under section 2(b), of an individual shall not be reduced on account of any pension or gratuity paid by an employer to such individual.

"FREE TRANSPORTATION

"SEC. 17. It shall not be unlawful for carriers by railroad subject to this Act to furnish free transportation to individuals receiving annuities under this Act in the same manner as such transportation is furnished to employees in their service.

"CREDITING SERVICE UNDER THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

"SEC. 18. (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), the term 'employment' as defined in section 210 of the Social Security Act shall not include service performed by an individual as an employee as defined in section 1(b) of this Act.

"(2) For the purpose of determining (i) monthly insurance benefits under the Social Security Act to an employee who will have completed less than ten years of service and to others deriving from him or her during his or her life and (ii) monthly insurance benefits and lumpsum death benefits under such Act with respect to the death of an employee who (A) will have completed less than ten years of service or (B) will have completed ten or more years of service but will not have had a current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his death, and for the purposes of section 203 of that Act, section 210(a) (9) of the Social Security Act and subdivision (1) of this section shall not operate to exclude from 'employment' under the Social Security Act service which would otherwise be included in such 'employment' but for such sections. For such purpose, compensation paid in a calendar year shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be presumed to have been paid in equal proportions with respect to all months in the year in which the employee will have been in service as an employee. In the application of the Social Security Act pursuant to this subdivision to service as an employee, all service as defined in section 1(d) of this Act shall be deemed to have been performed within the United States.

66 AUTOMATIC BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT

ADJUSTMENTS

88 STAT. 1350

"SEC. 19. (a) If title II of the Social Security Act is amended at any 45 USC 231r. time after December 31, 1974, to reduce the eligibility requirements 42 USC 401. for old-age insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, wife's insurance benefits payable to a wife, husband's insurance benefits, child's insurance benefits payable to a child of a deceased individual, widow's insurance benefits payable to a widow, widower's insurance benefits, mother's insurance benefits payable to a widow, or parent's insurance benefits, such reduced eligibility requirements shall be applicable, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board, to individuals, spouses, or survivors, as the case may be, under section 2 of this Act to the extent that such reduced eligibility requirements would provide such individuals, spouses, or survivors with entitlement to annuities under such section 2 to which they would not be entitled except for such reduced eligibility requirements: Provided, however, That no annuity shall be paid to any person pursuant to the provisions of this subsection if that person does not satisfy an eligibility requirement imposed by section 2 of this Act of a kind not imposed by the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, or an eligibility require- 42 USC 1305. ment imposed by section 2 of this Act of a kind which was imposed by the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, but which was not reduced by the amendment to that Act: Provided further, That the annuity amounts to which such individuals, spouses, or survivors will be entitled under this Act by reason of the provisions of this subsection shall be only such amounts as are determined under the provisions of section 3(a), 4(a), or 4(f), respectively, of this Act.

"(b) If title II of the Social Security Act is amended at any time after December 31, 1974, to provide monthly insurance benefits under that Act to a class of beneficiaries not entitled to such benefits thereunder prior to January 1, 1975, every person who is a member of such class of beneficiaries shall be entitled to annuities under section 2 of this Act, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board, in an amount equal to the amount of the monthly insurance benefit to which such person would have been entitled under the Social Security Act if service as an employee after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term 'employment' as defined in that Act.

"(c) If section 226 or title XVIII of the Social Security Act is 42 USC 426, amended at any time after December 31, 1974, to reduce the conditions 1395. of entitlement to, or to expand the nature of, the benefits payable thereunder, or if health care benefits in addition to, or in lieu of, the benefits payable under such section 226 or such title XVIII are provided by any provision of law which becomes effective at any time after December 31, 1974, such reductions in the conditions of entitlement to benefits, such expanded benefits, or such additional, or substituted, health care benefits shall be available to every employee (as defined in this Act), and those deriving from him, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as if his service as an employee after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term 'employment' as defined in the Social Security Act. The Board shall have the same authority, in accordance with regulations prescribed by it, to determine the rights of employees who will have completed ten years of service, and of those deriving from such employees, to benefits provided by reason of the provisions of this subsection as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare has with respect to individuals insured under the Social Security Act.

"(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section

88 STAT. 1351

42 USC 1305.

45 USC 231s.

Railroad Re tirement Act

of 1974.

45 USC 231t.

45 USC 231 note,

45 USC 228b, 2280, 228e,

45 USC 215 note.

45 USC 215 note.

45 USC 228f.

"(1) No annuity or other benefit shall be payable to any person on the basis of the compensation and years of service of an individual by reason of the provisions of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section if, and to the extent that, such annuity or other benefit would duplicate a benefit payable to such person on the basis of such compensation and years of service under a provision of the Social Security Act, or any other Act of Congress, which becomes effective after December 31, 1974.

"(2) No annuity shall be payable to a person by reason of subsection (a) or (b) of this section unless the individual upon whose compensation and years of service such annuity would be based will have (A) completed ten years of service, and (B) in the case of a survivor, had a current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his death.

"(3) If the Social Security Act is amended after Deceinber 31, 1974, to remove any, or all, restriction on the receipt of more than one monthly insurance benefit thereunder, annuity amounts provided a person under section 3 (h), 4(e), or 4(h) of this Act, or under section 204 (a) (3), 204 (a) (4), 206 (3), or 207 (3) of title II of this Act, shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of any annuity provided such person under this Act by reason of such amendment.

"(4) If and to the extent that an annuity or other benefit payable to a person by reason of the provisions of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section duplicates an annuity or other benefit then payable to such person under other provisions of this Act, such annuity or other benefit then payable under other provisions of this Act shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of the annuity or other benefit payable by reason of subsection (a), (b), or (c).

"SEPARABILITY

"SEC. 20. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, should be held invalid, the remainder of such Act, or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

"SHORT TITLE

"SEC. 21. This Act may be cited as the 'Railroad Retirement Act of 1974'."

TITLE II-TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 201. The claims of individuals who, prior to the effective date of title I of this Act, became eligible for annuities, supplemental annuities, or death benefits under section 2, 3(j), or 5 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 shall be adjudicated by the Board under that Act in the same manner and with the same effect as if title I of this Act had not been enacted: Provided, however, That no annuity, supplemental annuity, or death benefit shall be awarded under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 on the basis of an application therefor filed with the Board on or after the effective date of title I of this Act: Provided further, That no annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, no annuity or supplemental annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, and no pension under section 6 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 shall be payable for any month after December 31, 1974.

SEC. 202. (a) Every individual who would have been entitled to an annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 for the month of January 1975, if this Act had not been enacted, shall be entitled to an annuity under paragraph (i) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, beginning January 1, 1975, in an amount determined under the provisions of section 3 (a) of such Act, which amount shall initially be equal to the amount determined under clause (i) of section 3(a) (6) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the purpose of computing the last increase in such individual's annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 pursuant to the provisions of section 105 of Public Law 93-69, less the amount of any monthly insurance benefit to which such individual is actually entitled (before any deductions on account of work) under the Social Security

Act.

(b) The amount of the annuity of an individual under subsection (a) of this section shall be increased by an amount, if any, equal to the amount by which (i) his annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 for the month of December 1974 exceeds (ii) his annuity under subsection (a) of this section for the month of January 1975. SEC. 203. (a) Every individual who would have been entitled to a pension under section 6 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the month of January 1975, if this Act had not been enacted, shall be entitled to an annuity under paragraph (i) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 in an amount determined under the provisions of section 3 (a) of such Act, which amount shall initially be equal to the amount determined under clause (i) of section 3(a) (6) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the purpose of computing the last increase in such individual's pension under section 6 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 pursuant to the provisions of section 105 of Public Law 93-69, less the amount of any monthly insurance benefit to which such individual is actually entitled (before any deductions on account of work) under the Social Security Act.

(b) The amount of the annuity of an individual under subsection (a) of this section shall be increased by an amount, if any, equal to the amount by which (i) his pension under section 6 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the month of December 1974 exceeds (ii) his annuity under subsection (a) of this section for the month of January 1975.

(c) The annuities of each individual under the preceding subsections of this section shall be paid on January 1, 1975, and on the first day of each calendar month thereafter during his life.

SEC. 204. (a) Every individual who was entitled to an annuity under section 2(a)1, 2(a)2, 2(a)3, 2(a)4, or 2(a)5 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the month of December 1974, or who would have been entitled to such an annuity for such month except for the provisions of section 2(d) of such Act, and who would have been entitled to such an annuity for the month of January 1975, if this Act had not been enacted, shall be entitled to an annuity under paragraph (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v), respectively, of section 2(a) (1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, beginning January 1, 1975: Provided, however, That if an individual who was entitled to an annuity under section 2(a)4 or 2(a)5 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 is age 65 or older, on January 1, 1975, such individual shall be entitled to an annuity under paragraph (i) of section 2(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. For purposes of this subsection

(1) that portion of the individual's annuity as is provided under section 3(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 shall initially be in an amount equal to the amount determined under clause (i) of section 3(a) (6) of the Railroad Retirement Act of

1937 for the purpose of computing the last increase in the amount of such individual's annuity as computed under the provisions of section 3(a), and that part of section 3(e) which preceded the first proviso, of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, less the amount of any monthly insurance benefit to which such individual is actually entitled (before any deductions on account of work) under the Social Security Act;

(2) that portion of the individual's annuity as is provided under section 3(b)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 shall be in an amount, if any, equal to the amount by which (A) his annuity under section 2(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the month of December 1974 (before any reduction on account of age and without regard to section 2(d) of such Act) exceeds (B) (i), if such individual is entitled to an annuity amount provided under paragraph (3) of this subsection, the amount of the annuity which would have been provided such individual under paragraph (1) of this subsection (before any reduction due to such individual's entitlement to a monthly insurance benefit under the Social Security Act) for the month of January 1975 if he had no wages or self-employment income under the Social Security Act other than wages derived from service as an employee under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 after December 31, 1936, and before January 1, 1975, or (ii), if such individual is not entitled to an annuity amount provided under paragraph (3) of this subsection, the amount of his annuity provided under paragraph (1) of this subsection (before any reduction due to such individual's entitlement to a monthly insurance benefit under the Social Security Act) for the month of January 1975: Provided, however, That if the annuity of any individual under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 for the month of December 1974 was computed under the first proviso of section 3 (e) of such Act, the annuity of such individual for purposes of clause (A) of this graph shall be the annuity which such individual would have received under such Act for the month of December 1974, if no other person had been included in the computation of the annuity of such individual; and

para

(3) if the individual was entitled to an old-age insurance benefit or a disability insurance benefit under the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, or was fully insured under that Act on that date, the annuity amounts provided under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be increased by an amount determined under the provisions of section 3 (h)(1) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974: Provided, however, That, if the individual was entitled to an old-age insurance benefit or a disability insurance benefit under the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, such amount shall not be less nor more than an amount which would cause the total of the annuity amounts provided the individual by the provisions of this subsection for the month of January 1975 to equal the total of the annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 (prior to any reduction on account of age and without regard to section 2(d) of that Act) plus the old-age or disability insurance benefit under the Social Security Act (before any reduction on account of age and deductions on account of work) which such individual would have received for such month if this Act had not been enacted.

(4) if the individual was entitled to a wife's, husband's, widow's, or widower's insurance benefit under the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, or is the wife, husband, widow, or widower of a person who was fully insured under that Act on