Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 107-90.
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 - Title I: Amendments to Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to increase benefits to railroad employees and their beneficiaries and to revise financing of the railroad retirement system. (Sec. 101) Provides for a guaranteed initial minimum amount for surviving spouses of deceased railroad employees. Bases such amount on the tier 1 and tier 2 benefit that would have been payable to the employee at the time of the award of the surviving spouse's annuity. (Sec. 102) Repeals the reduction in tier 1 annuity components for employees and spouses prior to age 62, thus providing for full tier 1 annuities to employees at age 60 with 30 years of service and to spouses of employees with 30 years of service at age 60. (Sec. 103) Reduces from ten to five years of service (after 1995) the vesting requirement for railroad retirement benefits for employees and survivors. Sets forth computation formulae for individual annuities through railroad retirement and Social Security benefit systems. (Sec. 104) Repeals a maximum limit on annuity benefits payable to an employee and spouse under the railroad retirement system. (Sec. 105) Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (the Fund) and a National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (the Trust) to manage and invest Fund assets. (Sec. 106) Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. Provides for transfer to the Fund of certain portions of the Railroad Retirement Account and of Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds. (Sec. 107) Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefits Payments Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. (Sec. 108) Requires the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Trust from taxation. (Sec. 203) Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. (Sec. 204) Provides for adjustments to tier II tax rates for railroad employers, employee representatives, and employees.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on December 5, 2001. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on December 21, 2001: Became Public Law No: 107-90.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced it on March 14, 2001, and 314 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law