Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 1.djvu/740

 Ill STAT. 716 PUBLIC LAW 105-33 —AUG. 5, 1997 taken or any failure to act that lay within the power of the District of Columbia government or the District of Columbia Retirement Board; (5) the presence of the unfunded pension liability is having and will continue to have a negative impact on the District of Columbia's credit rating as it is a legal obligation and the total unfunded liability exceeds the total General Obligation debt of the District, and the costs associated with this liability are a contributing cause of the District's ongoing financial crisis; (6) the obligations of the District associated with these pension programs in fiscal year 1997 represents nearly 10 percent of the District's revenue; (7) the annual Federal contribution toward these costs under the District of Columbia Retirement Reform Act has remained $52,000,000; (8) if the unfunded pension liability situation is not resolved, in 2004 the District of Columbia would be responsible for annual costs exceeding $800,000,000, a figure which would be impossible to meet without catastrophic impact on the District government's resources and programs; (9) the financial resources of the District of Columbia are not adequate to discharge the unfunded liabilities of the retirement programs; and (10) the level of benefits and funding of the current retirement programs were authorized by various Acts of Congress, (b) POLICY.— It is the policy of this subtitle— (1) to relieve the District of Columbia government of the responsibility for the unfunded pension liabilities transferred to it by the Federal government; (2) for the Federal government to assume the legal responsibility for paying certain pension benefits (including certain unfunded pension liabilities which existed as of the day prior to introduction of this legislation) for the retirement plans of teachers, police, and firefighters; (3) to provide for a responsible Federal system for payment of benefits accrued prior to the date of introduction of this legislation; and (4) to require the establishment of replacement plans by the District of Columbia government for the current retirement plans for teachers, and police and firefighters. SEC. 11003. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this subtitle, the following definitions shall apply: (1) The term "contract" means the contract under section 11035 between the Secretary and the Trustee, (2) The term "covered District employee" means a teacher of the District of Columbia public schools, or a member of the Metropolitan Police Force or the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, as defined under the District Retirement Program. (3) The term "District Government" means any entity treated as part of the District government under section 305(5) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, including the District

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