President Barack Obama yesterday signed a law establishing a special open enrollment period for judges to enroll in the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System, a victory for judges' groups that had lobbied for the legislation.
The Federal Judges Association, together with one group representing U.S. magistrate judges and another representing U.S. bankruptcy judges,had hired Patton Boggs
partner Jonathan Yarowsky, a former general counsel to the House
Judiciary Committee, to push the judges' concerns. The judges' groups also signed on Steve Elmendorf of Elmendorf Strategies.
Last month, Chief
Judge Wiley Daniel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, president of the Federal Judges Association,
told The National Law Journal that
the group wanted to lobby Congress on "anything that will impact our economy
and independence," including pay, benefits, and court budget issues.
Daniel could not immediately be reached for comment today.
The open enrollment period was one of the groups’ priorities. Previously, the only opportunity judges had to elect to participate in the plan, which pays an annuity to their surviving dependents, was when they were confirmed to the bench or promoted. The law creates a one-time six-month enrollment window for current judges -- essentially a second chance.
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