H.R. 3303 would allow certain federal employees who are covered by provisions of enhanced retirement and who become ill or injured while performing the duties of their position to return to work and remain covered by enhanced retirement. That provision would apply even if those workers return to work in a position that would otherwise not be covered.
Under the bill, people in covered positions include law enforcement officers, fire fighters, customs and border protection agents, air traffic controllers, nuclear materials couriers, members of the U.S. Capitol Police, members of the Supreme Court Police, Central Intelligence Agency agents, and special agents under the Foreign Service Act of 1980.
Classifying some federal positions as covered under enhanced retirement when they otherwise would not be would have several budgetary effects, including:
Increased direct spending for benefit payments because of earlier retirements that are calculated under a more generous formula,
Increased revenues from additional retirement contributions paid by employees, and
Increased retirement contributions paid by employing agencies out of their discretionary appropriations.
On net, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3303 would increase deficits by $8 million over the 2019-2028 period. That amount comprises an increase in direct spending of $11 million and an increase in revenues of $3 million. Because enacting H.R. 3303 would affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. In addition, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3303 would increase spending subject to appropriation by $100 million over the 2019-2028 period.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3303 would not increase net direct spending by more than $2.5 billion or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 3303 contains no intragovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
