This bill modifies the federal retirement system for firefighters by allowing them to count more service time toward their pensions, even if they had breaks in their employment. Specifically, it allows firefighters who work for federal agencies like the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to maintain firefighter status if they move into supervisory or administrative positions while having no more than 24 months total of breaks in service, whereas current rules require no breaks at all. The bill also lets firefighters who worked between October 1, 2003, and the bill's enactment date reclaim that prior service time by paying back taxes and employee contributions they would have owed if these new rules had been in effect then. To receive credit for this past service, affected workers must submit written elections to their agencies and reimburse the federal government for both employee and employer contributions, plus interest. The Office of Personnel Management is directed to notify eligible firefighters of their rights under this new policy and assist them in gathering records needed to verify their service.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.