Sponsors (3)
The bill extends DoD retirement benefits and clarifies coverage for NOAA, PHS, and all uniformed services—improving benefits for those workers—but creates a new federal liability and administrative burdens that will need funding and careful actuarial management, potentially raising costs for taxpayers.
NOAA and Public Health Service (PHS) commissioned officers will gain coverage under the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund, giving those federal uniformed employees direct access to DoD retirement benefits.
The bill clarifies eligibility by replacing 'armed forces' with 'uniformed services' and explicitly including the Space Force, ensuring current and future uniformed services are covered and reducing ambiguity about who qualifies for benefits.
Requires the Board of Actuaries to calculate the NOAA/PHS unfunded liability and set an amortization schedule by Jan 1, 2027, creating a defined actuarial plan and timetable to fund the added benefits.
Adding NOAA and PHS officers creates a new unfunded liability for the Military Retirement Fund that will likely require higher contributions or additional federal spending, increasing costs for taxpayers and potentially crowding out other priorities.
If the Board adopts long amortization periods to fund the liability, current taxpayers could end up paying for past service—shifting costs onto younger generations and raising intergenerational equity concerns.
Expanding covered populations and agency contributors increases administrative complexity and will require additional interagency coordination to determine contributions and benefit payments, which could delay implementation or raise administrative costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds NOAA and Public Health Service commissioned corps to the Military Retirement Fund, replaces "Armed Forces" with "uniformed services," and requires an actuarial valuation and amortization of prior NOAA/PHS liabilities by Jan 1, 2027.
Official title: To amend title 10, United States Code, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 2002, and the Public Health Service Act, to pay retired pay from the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund to retired members of the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and of the Public Health Service, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 11, 2026 by Jamie Ben Raskin · Last progress May 11, 2026
Expands the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund and related definitions to cover all "uniformed services," explicitly adding the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and the U.S. Public Health Service commissioned corps to Fund coverage and contribution rules. Directs the Board of Actuaries to calculate the present value of prior NOAA and PHS service (the original unfunded liability) and set an amortization schedule, with contributions required to begin under existing contribution rules. Also modernizes statutory language (replacing terms like "Armed Forces" and "Department of Defense and the Coast Guard" with "uniformed services" and similar phrasing), and extends Fund payment/administration roles to specified Cabinet departments, including Commerce and Health and Human Services, to accommodate the newly covered services.