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B-114817 1 (1979-12-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadhut0001 and id is 1 raw text is: /232-6 DECIoI pTHE COMPTROLLER GENERAL DECISIDl OF THE UNITED STATES VWASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 FILE: B-114817 MATTER DIGEST: DATE: December 18, 1979 OF: Railroad Retirement Board'sLauthority to make zs'. setoffs from the Regional Rail Transportation Protective Account The Railroad Retiremen Board may set off reimbursements due to railroads from the Regional Rail Transportation Protective Account described in 45 U.S.C. § 779 (1976) against amounts owed to the Board by the railroads under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. Board's right of setoff derives from common law right of the Govern- ment to retain moneys otherwise due debtors in satisfac- tion of their debts. Although the withheld protective account reimbursements will be transferred to Board's insurance fund, this does not constitute violation of Protective Account statutory authority forbidding pro- tective account funds to be usedfor insurance payments. Protective funds are being used for proper purposes but merely being withheld to satisfy independent debt. The Railroad Retirement Board (Board) has asked whether it may withhold reimbursements due to the National Railroad Passenger Corpora- 7 1 .tion (Amtrak) and payable from the Regional Rail Transportation Protective Account (Protective Account) pursuant to 45 U.S.C. § 779 (1976), to offset unpaid claims of the Board against Amtrak under section 12(o) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), 45 U.S.C. § 362(o) (1976). The Board plans to transfer the with- held reimbursements from the Protective Account to its Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account. We conclude the Board can make those setoffs. The question arose when the Board paid sickness benefits for work-related injuries to an employee of Amtrak and then served notice upon Amtrak of its right of reimbursement. For various reasons, Amtrak refused to make full reimbursement but eventually, the Board and Amtrak settled the matter. However, in the expecta- tion that the issue may be raised again, the Board still seeks a decision on the propriety of offsetting amounts due to various railroads and payable from the protective account to discharge debts owed by the same railroads to the Board as reimbursement for sickness benefits. The problem, as both Amtrak and the Consolidated /go oM5

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