Pub. L. 90-257, tit. I, sec. 105

Sec. 105. (a) Section 5(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 is amended by inserting “(1)” before “A widow”; by inserting before the colon the following: “, except that if the widow or widower will have been paid an annuity under paragraph (2) of this subsection the annuity for a month under this paragraph shall be in an amount equal to the amount calculated under such paragraph (2) except that, in such calculation, any month with respect to which an annuity under paragraph (2) is not paid shall be disregarded”; and by inserting at the end thereof the following new paragraph: “(2) A widow or widower of a completely insured employee who will have attained the age of fifty but will not have attained age-sixty and is under a disability, as defined in this paragraph, and such disability began before the end of (he period prescribed in the last sentence of this paragraph, shall be entitled to an annuity for each month, unless she or he has remarried in or before such month, equal to such employee’s basic amount but subject to a reduction by three-tenths of 1 per centum for each calendar month she or he is under age sixty when the annuity begins. A widow or widower shall be under a dis-82 Stat. 20ability within the meaning of this paragraph if her or his permanent physical or mental condition is such that she or he is tumble to engage in any regular employment. The provisions of section 2(a) of this Act as to the proof of disability shall apply with regard to determinations with respect to disability under this paragraph. The annuity of a widow or widower under this paragraph shall cease upon the last day of the second month following the month in which she or he ceases to be under a disability unless such annuity is otherwise terminated on an earlier date. The period referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph is the period beginning with the latest of (i) the month of the employee’s death, (ii) the last month for which she was entitled to an annuity under subsection (b) as the widow of such employee, or (iii) the month in which her or his previous entitlement to an annuity as the widow or widower of such employee terminated because her or his disability had erased and ending with the month before the month in which she or he attains age sixty, or, if earlier with the close of the eighty-fourth month following the month with which such period began.” (b) Section 5(b) of such Act is amended by striking out all that follows “be increased to $18.14” and inserting in lieu thereof a period. (c) Section 5(i)(l)(ii) of such Act. is amended by inserting “, deeming such an individual who is entitled to an annuity under subsection (a)(1) of this section to have attained age sixty-two unless such individual will have been entitled to an annuity under subsection (a)(2) of this section for the month before the month in which he attained age sixty”, after “an activity within the United States”. (d) Section 5(j) of such Act is amended by striking out all after the colon and inserting in lieu thereof the following: Provided, however, That the annuity of a child, qualified under subsection (1)(1)(ii)(C) of this section, snail cease upon the last day of the second month following the month in which he ceases to be unable to engage in any regular employment by reason of a permanent physical or mental condition unless in such second month he qualifies for an annuity under one of the other provisions of this Act and unless his annuity is otherwise terminated on an earlier date.” (e) Section 5 (1)(1) of such Act is amended by changing the period at the end of subdivision (i) thereof to a semicolon; by striking out “which began” from subdivision (ii)(C) and inserting in lieu thereof “which disability began”; and by striking out “216(h)(1) of the Social Security Act, as in effect prior to 1957, shall be applied” where such language first, appears and inserting in lieu thereof “216(h) of the Social Security Act shall be applied deeming, for this purpose, individuals entitled to an annuity under section 2 (e) or (h) to be entitled to benefits under subsection (b) or (c) of section 202 of the Social Security Act and individuals entitled to an annuity under subsection (a) or (b) of this section to be entitled to a benefit under subsection (e), (f), or (g) of section 202 of the Social Security Act”. (f) Section 5(1)(9) of such Act is amended by inserting “or January 1, 1951, whichever is later” before “, eliminating any excess over $300”; by striking out “for any calendar year before 1955 is less than $3,600” and inserting in lieu thereof “in the period before 1951 is less than $50,400, or for any calendar year after 1950 and be fore 1955 is less than $3,600”; by inserting “period or such” before “calendar year ‘wages’ as defined in paragraph (6) hereof”; by striking out “for such year and $3,600 for years before 1955” and inserting in lieu thereof “for such period and $50,400, and between the compensation for such year and $3,600 for years after 1950 and before 1955”; by striking out “closing date: Provided, That for the period prior to and including ” and inserting in lieu thereof “closing date or January 1, 1951, which-82 Stat. 21ever is later: Provided, That for the period after 1950 but prior to and including ”; by inserting “after 1950” after “That there shall Ire excluded from the divisor any calendar quarter”; and by inserting “, any calendar quarter before 1951 in which a retirement annuity-will have been payable to him and any calendar quarter before 1951 and before the year in which he will have attained the age of 20” before “, An employee’s ‘closing date’ shall mean (A)”. (g) Subdivision (i) of section 5(1)(10) of such Act is amended by striking out beginning with “$450; plus (C)” down to and including “multiplied by” and inserting in lieu thereof “(i) $450, or (ii) an amount equal to one-twelfth of tile current maximum annual taxable ‘wages’ as defined in section 3121 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, whichever is greater, plus (C) 1 per centum of the sum of (A) plus (B) multiplied by”; and by striking out “after 1936 in each of which the compensation, wages, or both, paid to him will have been equal to $200 or more” and inserting in lieu thereof “after 1950 in each of which the compensation, wages, or both, paid to him will have been equal to $200 or more plus, for the years after 1936 and before 1951, a number of years determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board”. (h) Section 5(m) of such Act is amended by striking out all that appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “(m) The amount of an individual’s annuity calculated under the other provisions of this section (except an annuity in the amount determined under the proviso in subsection (a) or (b)) shall (before any reduction on account of age) be increased in the amount of 82.5 per centum in the case of a widow, widower, or parent and 75 per centum in the case of a child of the increase shown in the table in section 3(a)(2) on the same line on which the range of monthly compensation includes an amount equal to the average monthly wage determined for the purposes of section 3(e)(except, that for cases involving earnings before 1951 and for cases on the Board’s rolls on the enactment date of the 1967 amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act, an amount equal to the highest, average monthly wage that can be found on the same line of the table in section 215 (a) of the Social Security Act as is the primary insurance amount recorded in the records of the Railroad Retirement Board shall be used, and if such an average monthly wage cannot be determined, the employee’s monthly compensation on which his annuity was computed shall be used; and in the case of a pensioner, his monthly compensation shall be deemed to be the earnings which are used to compute his basic amount): Provided, however, That the increase shall (before any reduction on account of age) be reduced by 17.3 per centum of any benefit under title II of the Social Security Act to winch the individual is entitled (disregarding for the purpose of this and the following proviso any increase in such benefit based on recomputations other than for the correction of errors after the first adjustment and any increases derived from legislation enacted after the Social Security Amendments of 1967): And provided further, That the amount computed under this subsection shall (before any reduction on account of age) not be less than $5, or, in the case of an individual entitled to benefits under title II of the Social Security Act, such amount shell not be less than $5 minus 5.8 per centum of the lesser of the social security benefit to which such individual is entitled or the benefit computed under the other provisions of this section.”