During the closing hours of the 109th Congress, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 5483, the Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act of 2006. President Bush signed the bill into law on Friday, January 12. It became effective immediately.
This bill increases the amount of money that an individual on disability can earn—without affecting his or her Railroad Retirement disability pension—from $400 per month to $700 per month. Moreover, this amount will be subject to increases due to inflation in future years.
Commenting on this significant increase, President Bob Scardelletti states that “Without the hard work and expertise of TCU’s legislative department this bill would not have passed….This is another example of TCU being in the lead on legislative issues for all of rail labor.” To read the full letter sent by President Scardelletti, click here.