Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5483) to increase the disability earning limitation under the Railroad Retirement Act and to index the amount of allowable earnings consistent with increases in the substantial gainful activity dollar amount under the Social Security Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5483.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I strongly support this bipartisan legislation.

H.R. 5483 is a bill to help disabled railroad employees. Under our current system, a permanently disabled railroad worker is given a monthly stipend by the Railroad Retirement Board. The average stipend is about $1,911 a month, which is often too little to support a family. This has led disabled workers to seek a supplemental source of income.

If a disabled railroad worker is well enough to work at another job, current law limits his or her earnings to only $400 a month, a limit which has remained unchanged for years.

Mr. Speaker, in my own district, the mayor of Mentor, Ohio, is a disabled railroad worker, and he can only accept $400 as his monthly pay for being the mayor of Mentor.

This legislation that we are considering today, H.R. 5483, the Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act, will increase that amount to only $700 per month, with no decrease in retirement benefits. The $700 figure will also be indexed to inflation.

The cost of this legislation is estimated to be at less than $500,000 a year. To put things in perspective, the National Railroad Retirement Trust is currently valued at over $29 billion and has been so well managed that railroad payroll taxes are actually going down.

H.R. 5483, the Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act, is important to disabled railroad employees and their families and is one of the most important pieces of railroad legislation that we will consider this year.

I urge your support for this bill and wish to commend our committee chairman, Mr. Young of Alaska; the ranking minority member, Mr. Oberstar; and the subcommittee's ranking minority member, Ms. Brown, for her outstanding leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Very shortly, I would advise my distinguished ranking member that I have no additional speakers, but I do want to make this comment.

This is my first session of Congress to serve as the chairman of the Railroad Subcommittee, and it has been my distinct pleasure to serve with the gentlewoman from Florida, and I want to thank her for the kind and bipartisan way in which she has treated all of the issues that have come before the subcommittee these last 2 years.

I do not know where our forces are going to take us in the next couple of years, but I very much look forward to working with you, and with that, when the gentlewoman yields back, I will do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5483. This bill increases the outside earnings limit for disabled workers from $400 to $700 per month, and indexes their outside earnings annually after 2007 to increases in the national average wage index-- consistent with the indexing mechanism for determining substantial gainful employment under the Social Security Act.

Currently, the Railroad Retirement Act withholds monthly annuities for disabled workers who earn more than $400 in outside income. At the end of each year, the withheld annuities are reimbursed to disabled workers whose total annual earnings are less than $5,000. Otherwise, the annuity is subject to a deduction of 1 month's benefit for each multiple of $400 earned over $5,000. H.R. 5483 increases that threshold to $8,750.

With ever-increasing costs for health care and prescription drugs, an extra $300 in earnings per month could make a real difference for disabled persons, who are all too often denied affordable, comprehensive healthcare, and guaranteed coverage of prescription drugs.

The Railroad Retirement Board's chief actuary estimates that these increases would not have a substantial impact on the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund. According to the actuary, the cost of raising the disability work deduction limit would be less than $1 million per year. That is a small price to pay for helping meet the needs of many disabled persons and their families.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5483.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank Chairman Young and Chairman LaTourette and Ranking Member Oberstar for their work in bringing this important bill to the House floor for a vote.

It has been nearly 20 years since we have passed a bill to help out our Nation's rail workers who were injured on the job and unable to continue working in the railroad industry. I am pleased to see that everyone has agreed to support an increase in their allowed monthly earnings limit so that these hardworking men and women can work freely in jobs that are not as physically demanding as those in the railroad industry.

H.R. 5483 will increase the outside earnings limits for disabled workers from $400 to $700 per month, which will then increase yearly based on the Social Security index.

We all know that the cost of living in this country is skyrocketing. Whether it is the cost of needed medicines, increased insurance premiums, or the high price of gasoline, this small increase will make a major impact on the ability of these individuals to provide for their families.

I stand in strong support of this legislation, and I am happy to see everyone has come together today and that the views of all interested groups, not just a select few, were included in this legislation.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and pensions be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 5483, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, that the bill, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.