In July the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed Senator Tester’s First Responders Fair Return for Employees on Their Initial Retirement Earned (RETIRE) Act, which will help federal firefighters, law enforcement officers, Customs and Border Protection officials, and other federal employees with potentially dangerous jobs receive their full retirement benefits if they get hurt while on duty.

Sen. Tester explained the bill in a recent press release: “Because of the physically demanding and dangerous nature of these federal jobs, designated “6c” occupations, Congress created an accelerated retirement system and established a mandatory early retirement age of 57. These employees pay a higher percentage of their wages toward their retirement, and are entitled to an annuity after 20 years of service. Currently, if they are injured at work and unable to complete their mandatory years of service, funds that they’ve paid into early retirement are eliminated, even if they return to the federal government in a non-6c position. The First Responders Fair RETIRE Act will allow federal public safety officers to retain their enhanced 6c retirement status when they return to the federal government after getting injured in the line of duty. They would still be able to retire after 20 years of federal service and will also be eligible to receive a lump sum payment of the benefits owed from their 6c retirement funds.”

FMA has supported the bill since its initial introduction in the 115th Congress.