TSP Modernization Act of 2017

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for February 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budget points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

The enforceable levels included in this report reflect all of the numerical adjustments made to the resolution since its passage. The information contained in this report captures legislative activity from the passage of the budget resolution through February 26, 2018.

Republican Budget Committee staff prepared tables 1-4 of this report.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 11 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations. As previously reported, the Senate Veterans' Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees remain in breach of their allocations. Since my last report on January 18, 2018, both the Finance and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committees have increased spending beyond allowable levels. Through the enactment of both the fourth continuing resolution, H.R. 195, P.L. 115-120, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, BBA18, H.R. 1892, P.L. 115-123, which contained packages of healthcare extenders, the Finance Committee breached its allocation by $76.9 billion in budget authority and $7.8 billion in outlays over 10 years. Enactment of the BBA18 also produced the Agriculture Committee breach. That law changed the treatment of seed cotton, dairy, and livestock under Federal farm programs, increasing both budget authority and outlays by $1.2 billion over the 2018-2027 period.

Table 2 gives the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in section 312 and section 314 of the CBA. While no full-year appropriations bills have been enacted for fiscal year 2018, subcommittees are charged with permanent and advanced appropriations that first become available in that year and any full-year standalone provisions included in continuing resolutions. This table reflects one change from my January report. The continuing resolution portion of the BBA18 included full-year authority for the Secretary of Energy to draw down and sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, reducing budget authority and outlays by $315 million in 2018.

The budget resolution contains two points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPS. Tables 3 and 4 show compliance with fiscal year 2018 limits for overall CHIMPS and the Crime Victims Fund CHIMP, respectively. This information is used for determining points of order under sections 4102 and 4103 of H. Con. Res. 71, respectively. Notably, there have not been any full- year bills enacted thus far for fiscal year 2018 that include CHIMPS.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by the Congress.

CBO provided a spending and revenue report for fiscal year 2018, which helps enforce aggregate spending levels in budget resolutions under CBA section 311. In its report, CBO annualizes the temporary effects of the latest continuing resolution, which provides funding through March 23, 2018. For the enforcement of budgetary aggregates, the Budget Committee excludes this temporary funding. As such, the committee views current-law levels as being $814.6 billion and $463.7 billion below budget resolution levels for budget authority and outlays, respectively. Details on fiscal year 2018 levels can be found in CBO's second table.

Current-law revenues continue to be in excess of the levels assumed by the budget resolution. On-budget revenue levels currently exceed assumed levels by $3.5 billion in fiscal year 2018, $41.9

billion over the fiscal year 2018-2022 period, and $98.4 billion over the fiscal year 2018-2027 period. Since my last filing both the fourth continuing resolution and BBA18 contained provisions that reduced revenues compared with current law. The fourth continuing resolution included $25.4 billion in on-budget revenue loss over 10 years related to delays in several health-related taxes. The BBA18 contained an $11.6 billion revenue loss largely as a consequence of a package of tax extenders. This BBA18 figure omits $1.8 billion in revenue increases attributable to language related to Federal Reserve Surplus Funds, which are required to be omitted under current scorekeeping rules.

Social Security outlay levels are consistent with the budget resolution's figures for all enforceable periods. Social Security revenues, however, are $446 million below levels assumed for fiscal year 2018, $1.9 billion greater over the next 5 years, and $28.8 billion greater than assumed over the next 10 years. These revenue effects are attributable to the tax provisions from the fourth continuing resolution, BBA18, and the tax reconciliation bill enacted in December 2017.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. The Senate's PAYGO scorecard currently shows deficit reduction of $24 million in fiscal year 2018, $14 million over the fiscal year 2017-2022, and $13 million over fiscal year 2017- 2027 periods. For fiscal year 2018, legislation has been enacted that would reduce outlays by $24 million. Over the fiscal year 2017-2022 period, legislation has been enacted that CBO estimates will decrease outlays by $13 million and increase revenues by $1 million. Over the fiscal year 2017-2027 period, legislation has been enacted that CBO estimates will decrease outlays by $11 million and increase revenues by $2 million. Notably absent from these amounts are the direct spending and revenue effects from the fourth continuing resolution and BBA18. This is due to provisions in those measures that mandated the exclusion of those budgetary effects both from the Senate and statutory PAYGO scorecards. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71.

Also included in this submission is a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since Congress adopted the budget resolution. No points of order have been raised on the floor since my last filing.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for April 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budget points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section

308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

The enforceable levels included in this report reflect all of the numerical adjustments made to the resolution since its passage. The information contained in this report captures legislative activity from passage of the budget resolution through April 9, 2018. The only law enacted with significant budgetary effects since my last filing, on February 28, 2018, was the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, P.L. 115-141.

Republican Budget Committee staff prepared tables 1 to 4 of this report.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations. As previously reported, the Senate Veterans' Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Finance; and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committees are in breach of their allocations. Since my last report, several committees' allocations were affected by changes in the nonappropriations provisions included in the omnibus appropriations bill. Still, the only new committee creating a breach was the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which spent $100 million more in both budget authority and outlays through Division P of the omnibus, Ray Baum's Act of 2018, than allowed under the budget resolution.

Table 2 gives the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in sections 312 and 314 of the CBA. Appropriations for 2018 are consistent with the statutory limits as modified by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

The budget resolution contains two points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPS. Tables 3 and 4 show compliance with fiscal year 2018 limits for overall CHIMPS $17 billion, and the crime victims fund CHIMP, $11.2 billion, respectively. This information is used for determining points of order under sections 4102 and 4103 of H. Con. Res. 71, respectively. CHIMPS included in the 2018 omnibus comply with the existing limits.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress.

CBO provided a spending and revenue report for fiscal year 2018, which helps enforce aggregate spending levels in budget resolutions under CBA section 311. CBO's estimates, which now include the full effects of appropriations for this year, show that current-law levels of spending for fiscal year 2018 are above the amounts assumed in the budget resolution by $152.2 billion in budget authority and $105.5 billion in outlays. For fiscal year 2018, Social Security outlay levels remain consistent with the budget resolution's assumption

Current-law revenues continue to be in excess of the levels assumed by the budget resolution. On-budget revenue levels currently exceed assumed levels by $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2018, $39.8 billion over the fiscal year 2018-2022 period, and $94.2 billion over the fiscal year 2018-2027 period. For fiscal year 2018, Social Security revenues are $446 million below levels assumed in the budget resolution.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. The Senate's PAYGO scorecard currently shows deficit reduction of $24 million in fiscal year 2018, but deficit increases of $10 million over the fiscal year 2017-2022 period and $11 million over the fiscal year 2017-2027 period. For fiscal year 2018, legislation has been enacted that would reduce outlays by $24 million. Over the fiscal year 2017-2022 period, legislation has been enacted that CBO estimates will decrease outlays by $13 million and decrease revenues by $23 million. Over the fiscal year 2017-2027 period, legislation has been enacted that CBO estimates will decrease outlays by $11 million and decrease revenues by $22 million. Consistent with recent congressional practice, the direct spending and revenue provisions included in the non-Appropriations Committee portion of the fiscal year 2018 omnibus, which increased deficits by $2.8 billion over 10 years are being excluded from PAYGO calculations. This is due to provisions in the omnibus that mandated the exclusion of those budgetary effects both from the Senate and statutory PAYGO scorecards. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71.

Also included in this submission is a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since Congress adopted the budget resolution. Two points of order were raised since my last filing. On March 14, 2018, Senator Sanders raised a PAYGO point of order against S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. This point of order was waived by a vote of 67 to 31. On March 21, 2018, Leader McConnell raised a PAYGO point of order against Senator Wyden's amendment, S. Amdt. 2213, to H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. This point of order was sustained with a vote of 21 to 78 on Senator Wyden's waiver motion.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3031) to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for flexibility in making withdrawals from a Thrift Savings Plan account, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3031, the TSP Modernization Act of 2017, introduced by Ranking Member Cummings from Maryland and Mr. Meadows from North Carolina earlier this year.

Federal employees enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System--known as FERS--enjoy the benefits of a three-part retirement structure. Those are a defined benefit pension plan, Social Security, and a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan known as the Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP.

With its low administrative costs and simple design, the TSP is an ideal retirement vehicle. Participants can choose from a variety of investment options, including index funds designed to track the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index, or a low-risk government securities investment fund.

Participants can also passively manage their investments by putting money into a Lifecycle Fund, which allows the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to purchase a combination of investments based on the year the employee is expected to retire.

Employees have a lot of options when investing their TSP funds, but when it comes to withdrawing their funds, the options are much more limited. This is because current statutory rules preclude employees from taking multiple post-service partial withdrawals. Employees cannot request a partial withdrawal or annuity purchase after making a periodic payment withdrawal election.

Statutory rules also require the purchase of an annuity if a participant fails to make an election by age 70\1/2\. The rules also restrict an employee's ability to make multiple in-service, age-based withdrawals.

The Board conducted a study in 2013, which found that separated participants moved $9 billion from the TSP fund to other, costlier institutions. Nearly one out of every three of these participants cited a desire for additional withdrawal flexibility.

The study also found that, among currently employed participants, the same ratio of participants requested additional withdrawal flexibility for age-based withdrawals to address life events that arise. This bill would afford those additional flexibilities to address those concerns.

The bill provides more control to Federal employees over their own retirement by allowing for multiple post-separation partial withdrawals and in-service, age-based withdrawals. H.R. 3031 allows employees to change withdrawal elections as they grow older, and it allows the Board to avoid purchasing expensive annuities if a participant fails to make an election by age 70\1/2\.

This bill puts power and control in the hands of the employees that make our Federal Government run to make retirement decisions based on their personal situations.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank Chairman Gowdy, Ranking Member Cummings, and Chairman Meadows for their outstanding work in addressing the needs of Federal employees who give selfless public service to our Nation and should have this flexibility in their retirement planning.

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

Madam President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for January 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budget points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office CBO prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

The enforceable levels included in this report reflect all of the numerical adjustments made to the resolution since its passage. These adjustments include an update to enforceable levels for legislation enacted after the June 2017 CBO baseline was released but before enactment of the resolution, October 30, 2017; a revision to aggregates and allocations to accommodate legislation fulfilling the budget resolution's reconciliation instructions, December 19, 2017; and a revision to aggregates and the Appropriations Committee's allocation for emergency spending found in Fiscal Year 2018's third continuing resolution, H.R. 1370, December 21, 2017.

The information contained in this report captures legislative activity from the passage of the budget resolution through January 11, 2018.

Republican Budget Committee staff prepared tables 1 through 4 of this report.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 13 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations. First, the Veterans' Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees violated their allocations in December 2017, the former with a $2.1 billion extension of the Veterans Choice Program and the latter through a package of health extenders. Both of these extensions were included as separate divisions on the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018, P.L. 115-96. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee violated its allocation earlier this month with the passage of the Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act, P.L. 115-103, which is estimated to increase spending by $5 million over the next 10 years. The Armed Services Committee, on the other hand, reduced spending over the budget window. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, P.L. 115-91, produced $16 million in outlay savings over the enforceable window.

Table 2 gives the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in section 312 and section 314 of the CBA. While no full-year appropriations bills have been enacted for Fiscal Year 2018, subcommittees are charged with permanent and advanced appropriations that first become available in that year.

The budget resolution contains two points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPS. Tables 3 and 4 show compliance with Fiscal Year 2018 limits for overall CHIMPS and the Crime Victims Fund CHIMP, respectively. This information is used for determining points of order under section 4102 and section 4103 of H. Con. Res. 71, respectively. Notably, there have not been any full-year bills enacted thus far for Fiscal Year 2018 that include

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3031, the TSP Modernization Act of 2017.

I thank the Government Operations Subcommittee chairman, Mr. Meadows, for working with me in a bipartisan manner on this commonsense, good government bill. I also thank the Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, Mr. Gowdy, for his support of this legislation.

Congressman Meadows and I introduced this legislation to make the Federal Government's Thrift Savings Plan more closely align with private sector best practices by allowing TSP participants more flexible withdrawal options.

In 2013, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board found that employees who separated from Federal service transferred $9 billion out of their TSP accounts to other financial institutions. TSP participants do this because private sector 401(k) plans provide more flexibility, and they wanted more options for withdrawing money in case they needed it.

A 2014 survey of TSP participants who withdrew funds showed that more than 50 percent reported that they wanted more flexibility to withdraw funds to address life events.

Current law limits participants to only one withdrawal from their TSP accounts while in Federal service after reaching age 59\1/2\, and participants who make this type of age-based withdrawal cannot take another partial withdrawal once they separate from service. Similarly, participants who are separated from Federal service and who have not made a prior age-based withdrawal are restricted to making only one partial separation withdrawal.

H.R. 3031 would eliminate these restrictions and allow participants to make multiple age-based and post-separation withdrawals from TSP accounts. The bill also would allow participants to elect to combine partial withdrawals with an annuity. It also would eliminate automatic annuities as a default option in the absence of an election by participants.

By providing greater withdrawal flexibility, studies show that participants would be more likely to keep their assets in their TSP accounts. For example, a study issued by Vanguard in 2013 found that 50 percent more participants and assets remain in retirement plans when partial disbursements are allowed.

Providing more withdrawal options for Federal employees and retirees in the TSP may help their financial security since administrative fees for the TSP are much lower than fees charged by other financial institutions.

This legislation is supported by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the National Treasury Employees Union.