Section 9. Tax Court Judges Survivors Annuity Fund LEGISLATIVE HISTORY The Tax Court Judges Survivors Annuity Fund was enacted in Public Law 87-370 on October 4, 1961. Internal Revenue Code section 7448 provides the statutory basis for the annuities to surviving spouses and dependent children of Tax Court judges. FINANCING MECHANISM Any judge of the United States Tax Court may by written election while a judge (or before a successor takes office) participate in the fund. There is deducted and withheld from the salary of each judge electing to participate 3 percent of that judge's salary. The amounts deducted and withheld are deposited, in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States, in the U.S. Treasury to the credit of the Tax Court Judges Survivors Annuity Fund. A judge may deposit, with interest at 4 percent per annum to December 31, 1947, and 3 percent per annum thereafter, compounded on December 31 of each year, to the credit of the Fund, a sum equal to 3 percent of the judge's salary and of that individual's basic salary, pay, or compensation for service as a Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner in Congress, and for any other civilian service within the purview of 5 U.S.C. 8332. Each judge may elect to make the deposits in installments during continuance of service as a judge in such amount and under such conditions as may be determined in each instance by the chief judge of the Tax Court. Notwithstanding the failure of a judge to make the deposit, credit is allowed for the service rendered, but the annuity of the surviving spouse of the judge is reduced by an amount equal to 10 percent of the amount of the deposit, computed as of the date of the death of the judge (unless the surviving spouse elects not to count the service, for which the deposit was not made, in determining the annuity due). No deposit is required from a judge for any year with respect to which deductions from salary were actually made under the civil service retirement laws. Also, no deposit is required for any honorable service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States. EXPENDITURE PURPOSES The Fund is used to pay annuities to a deceased judge's surviving spouse and children. If a judge who elects to participate in the Fund dies after having rendered at least 5 years of civilian service for which salary was withheld for the Fund (or for which salary was withheld under the civil service retirement laws), a surviving spouse or surviving de pendent child is entitled to an annuity from the Fund. If the surviving spouse has not attained age 50 at the date of the judge's death (and no dependent child survives), the annuity commences when the surviving spouse reaches age 50. The annuity payable to a surviving spouse terminates upon the surviving spouse's death or remarriage. An annuity payable to a dependent child and to a surviving spouse, if the judge is also survived by a dependent child, begins immediately after the judge's death. The annuity for a dependent child terminates generally upon the surviving child's reaching 18 years of age, marriage, or death. If the child is incapable of self support because of mental or physical disability, the annuity would terminate only upon death, marriage, or recovery from the disability. The annuity payable to a surviving spouse of a judge electing under the Fund is equal to a stated percentage (generally 14 percent) of the average annual salary received by the judge (whether the judge's salary or compensation is for other allowable Federal service) for the 5 consecutive years in which the judge received the largest average annual salary, multiplied by the sum of years of judicial or other allowable Federal service. The annuity for the surviving spouse cannot exceed 371⁄2 percent of the average annual salary of the judge. The annuity of the surviving spouse will be reduced to account for periods of time when the judge did not contribute to the Fund. The amount of the annuity payable to a surviving dependent is based upon the annuity payable to a surviving spouse (subject to certain limits). MISCELLANEOUS The statutory provisions governing this Fund are located at Internal Revenue Code section 7448. FINANCIAL STATUS OF FUND As of September 30, 1980, 15 judges of the Tax Court were participating in the Fund, and 6 eligible widows were receiving survivor annuities. The cost of these annuities was $69,000 in fiscal year 1980 and $79,000 in 1981. Section 10. Black Lung Disability Trust Fund LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND JURISDICTION National attention was focused on the working conditions of coal miners following a West Virginia coal mine accident in 1968 that killed 78 workers. Congressional hearings the following year on reform of the coal mine safety laws also examined the problems of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease. The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 established Federal minimum standards for mines in order to protect the safety and health of coal miners. In addition, title IV of the act provided benefits for miners totally disabled by black lung disease and for dependents of miners who had died from the disease or were totally disabled from the disease at death. The 1969 act was the first effort, at any level of government, to provide benefits exclusively to the victims of a single occupational disease. This was also the first time the Federal Government took major responsibility in the traditionally State-administered area of workers' compensation. The 1969 act was amended by the Black Lung Benefits Act of 1972, the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, the Black Lung Revenue Act of 1977, and the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1981. The statutory provisions of the act as amended are contained in 30 U.S.C. sections 901 et seq. and in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 sections 4121, 4218, 4951, 4952, 4953, and 9501, et seq. There are two distinct programs of black lung benefits under title IV: part B and part C. The part B program is financed by Federal general revenues and is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Benefits under part B are payable only for claims filed on or before June 30, 1973, (December 31, 1973, in the case of survivors) and thus no new beneficiaries can be added to the rolls. The part C program is administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) and generally applies to claims filed after June 30, 1973. Benefits under part C are paid either by the "responsible' coal mine operator or by the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund was created in 1978 pursuant to the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-227). In 1981, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund was transferred to the Internal Revenue Code by the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-119). The Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the excise tax on coal, the structure and administration of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, the expenditure purposes of the trust fund and tax provisions as to the coal mine operators' self-insurance trusts. The Committee on Education and Labor has jurisdiction over eligibility and evidentiary standards, claims adjudication, and related benefit provisions. The Department of Labor is required to conduct two studies and provide two reports to the Congress by June 1983. One study and report will focus on the key eligibility criteria used in granting black lung benefits. The other study and report will examine the benefits available to the same individual under this program and other social programs such as workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. The Secretary of the Treasury is required to report to the Congress each year on the financial status of the trust fund during the preceding fiscal year and on its expected condition and operations during the next 5 fiscal years. BENEFIT STRUCTURE Generally, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund ("trust fund") is required to pay benefits with respect to part C claims (claims filed after June 30, 1973) in which the miner's last coal mine employment was before January 1, 1970. Part B claims (claims filed on or before June 30, 1973) are generally paid by the Social Security Administration out of the general revenues of the Treasury, not the trust fund. If a miner's last coal mine employment was after January 1, 1970, and the claim was filed after June 30, 1973, benefits are paid by the coal mine operator judged to be responsible, the socalled "responsible operator," not the trust fund. The trust fund pays benefits if there is no responsible operator among the miner's employers or if the responsible operator is in default. Under the Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act of 1981, liability for certain claims which had been denied prior to March 1, 1978, but which were reviewed and approved under the liberalized eligibility criteria of the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, was also transferred to the trust fund. When an operator is determined to be responsible for the payment of benefits which in fact have been paid out of the trust fund, then the operator is obligated to reimburse the trust fund for those amounts plus interest. The expenses of the Department of Labor and the administrative expenses of the Department of Health and Human Services for the claims program financed through the trust fund are paid out of the trust fund monies. The trust fund also bears the cost of its own administration as well as the costs of administering the collection of the excise tax on coal. A claim under part B or C must meet three general conditions in order to be approved for black lung disability benefits: (1) the miner must have (or, if deceased, have had) pneumoconiosis; (2) the miner must be totally disabled by the disease (or must have been totally disabled at the time of death); and (3) the pneumoconiosis must have arisen out of coal mine employment. There are certain statutory presumptions that are used to establish eligibility. The basic monthly benefit for a miner totally disabled from black lung or a survivor is 371⁄2 percent of the monthly pay of a Federal employee in grade GS-2, step 1. A totally disabled miner or survivor with one dependent receives the basic monthly benefit rate increased by 50 percent. It the miner or survivor has two dependents, the benefit rate is increased by 75 percent, and if there are three or more dependents, the rate is increased by 100 percent. Benefit rates are revised in October of each year to reflect any revision in Federal pay scales. The rates as of October 1981 were: Miner or one survivor-$293.20. Miner or survivor with one dependent-$439.80. Miner or survivor with three or more dependents-$586.40. Black lung benefits are not taxed by the Federal Government, although States may do so. The average monthly black lung benefit for a single claimant under part C for fiscal 1980 was $254.00, and the average for a claimant with three or more dependents was |