Pub. L. 93-69, tit. I, sec. 104

Sec. 104. (a) Section 3(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new paragraph: “(6) If title II of the Social Security Act is amended to provide an increase in benefits payable thereunder at any time during the period July 1, 1973, through December 31, 1974, the individual’s annuity computed under the preceding provisions of this subsection and that part of subsection (e) of this section which precedes the first proviso shall be increased in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the amount (before any reduction on account of age) which would be payable to such individual under the then current law if his or her annuity were computed under the first, proviso of section 3(e) of this Act, without regard to the words ‘plus 10 per centum of such amount’ contained therein; and (ii) the amount (before any reduction on account of age) which would have been payable to such individual under the law as in effect prior to July 1, 1973, if his or her annuity had been computed under such first, proviso of section 3(e) of this Act, without regai’d to the words ‘plus 10 per centum of such total amount’ contained therein (assuming for this purpose that the eligibility conditions and the proportions of the primary insurance amounts payable under the then current Social Security Act had been in effect prior to July 1, 1973) : Provided, however, That, in computing such amount, only the social security benefits which would have been payable to the individual whose annuity is being computed under this Act shall be taken into account: Provided further, That if an annuity accrues to an individual for a part of a month the added 87 Stat. 164amount payable for such part of a month under this section shall be one-thirtieth of the added amount payable under this section for an entire month, multiplied by the number of days in such part of a month. If wages or compensation prior to 1951 are used in making any computation required by this paragraph, the Railroad Retirement Board shall have the authority to approximate the primary insurance amount to be utilized in making such computation. In making any computation required by this paragraph, any benefit to which an individual may be entitled under title II of the Social Security Act shall be disregarded. For purposes of this paragraph, individuals entitled to an annuity under section 2(a) (2) of this Act shall be deemed to be age 65, and individuals entitled to an annuity under section 2(a) (3) of this Act who have not attained age 62 shall be deemed to lxage 62. Individuals entitled to annuities under section 2(a) (4) or 2(a)(5) of this Act for whom no disability freeze has been granted shall be treated in the same manner for purposes of this paragraph as individuals entitled to annunities under section 2(a) (4) or 2(a) (5) for whom a disability freeze has been granted. In the ease of an individual who is entitled to an annuity under this Act but whose annuity is based on insufficient quarters of coverage to have a benefit computed, either actually or potentially, under the first proviso of section 2(e) of this Act, the average monthly wage to be used in determining the, amount to be added to the annuity of such individual shall be equal to the average monthly compensation or the average monthly earnings, whichever is applicable, used to enter the table in section 3(a) (2) of such Act for purposes of computing other portions of such individual’s annuity.” (b) Section 2(e) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 is amended— (1) by striking out “section 3(a), (3), (4), or (5) of this Act” and inserting in lieu thereof “section 3(a), (3), (4) , (5), or (6) of this Act”; (2) by striking out the second sentence of the last paragraph; and (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: “The spouse’s annuity computed under the other provisions of this section shall (before any reduction on account of age) be increased in an amount determined by the method of computing increases set forth in subsection (a)(6) of section 3. The preceding sentence and the other provisions of this subsection shall not operate to increase the annuity of a spouse (before any reduction on account of age) to an amount in excess of the maximum amount of a spouse’s annuity as provided in the first sentence of tins subsection. This paragraph shall be disregarded in the application of the preceding three paragraphs.” (c) Section 2(i) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 is amended by striking out “the last paragraph plus the two preceding paragraphs” and inserting in lieu thereof “the last paragraph plus the three preceding paragraphs”. (d) Section 5 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new subsection: “(q) A survivor’s annuity computed under the preceding provisions of this section shall be increased in an amount determined by the method of computing increases set forth in subsection (a)(6) of section 3: Provided, however, That in computing such an amount for an individual entitled to an annuity under subsection 5(a) (2), the 90.75 per centum figure appearing in the third paragraph of section 3 (e) of this Act shall lie deemed to be 82.5 per centum.”