Legislation Reintroduced to Fix CBP Retirement Issue
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SUMMARY: Legislation has been reintroduced in the Senate to correct a retirement error affecting nearly 1,500 CBP employees. Yesterday, Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced S. 311 the “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Retirement Corrections Act.” This vital piece of legislation would finally provide relief for the nearly 1,500 Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) who were told they were no longer eligible for a proportional annuity and subject to mandatory retirement after 20 years of law enforcement service. As you know, in 2007, President Bush signed legislation into law that made CBPOs eligible for the 1.7 percent enhanced law enforcement officer (LEO) retirement system. To help with the transition to this new retirement system, any officer hired before July 6, 2008, who retired prior to serving 20 years under the new retirement system are eligible to receive a proportional enhanced retirement benefit for their post-July 2008 years of service and are exempt from the new mandatory retirement age. However, approximately 1,500 CBPOs were later notified that this was a mistake, and that they are not eligible for the proportional annuity and subject to mandatory retirement after 20 years of law enforcement service, despite what they were told when they were hired. This legislation would correct this error and allow the affected employees to retire, as promised, with the higher proportional annuity rate and without requiring 20 years of service. The federal government made a promise to these workers, and this legislation will ensure that the government keeps that promise. We will keep you updated with any developments. For more information, click here. |
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