II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1309

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974

to provide for the preemption of State law in certain cases relating

to certain church plans.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 30, 1999

Mr. SESSIONS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide for the preemption of State

law in certain cases relating to certain church plans.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Church Plan Parity

5 and Entanglement Prevention Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COVERAGE IN CERTAIN CASES OF CERTAIN

2 CHURCH PLANS UNDER PROVISIONS OF

3 ERISA SUPERSEDING CERTAIN STATE LAWS.

4 Section 4 of the Employee Retirement Income Secu5 rity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1003) is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting before the

7 semicolon the following: ‘‘, except that section 514

8 shall apply as provided for in subsection (c) with re9 spect to a church plan to the extent that such sec10 tion provides for the superseding of State insurance

11 law and such plan meets the requirements of sub12 section (c)’’; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(c)(1) A church plan meets the requirements of this

15 subsection if—

16 ‘‘(A) the plan is established and maintained by

17 a church or a convention or association of churches,

18 including an organization described in section

19 3(33)(C)(i);

20 ‘‘(B) such church, convention or association of

21 churches, or organization has engaged in substantial

22 operations for more than 5 years in connection with

23 the administration or funding of 1 or more employee

24 benefit plans; and

25 ‘‘(C) such church, convention or association of

26 churches, or organization has filed with the Sec-
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1 retary before the end of each plan year to which this

2 subsection applies an affidavit of a fiduciary attest3 ing that the plan (including any trust forming a part

4 of the plan) meets the requirements of this sub5 section, specifying the name of the plan, the address

6 of the principal place of business of the plan, the

7 name of the plan administrator, the address of the

8 plan administrator, the total number of participants,

9 and providing such additional information as the

10 Secretary may determine by regulation may be pro11 vided without significant burden to the plan.

12 The Secretary shall consult with the National Association

13 of Insurance Commissioners in issuing regulations under

14 subparagraph (C).

15 ‘‘(2) The requirements of this subsection shall be con16 strued so as to maintain a rebuttable presumption against

17 the superseding of State law.

18 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term

19 ‘church plan’ excludes any other entity, irrespective of any

20 affiliation with the plan (or with a trust forming a part

21 of the plan), to the extent that such entity’s principal pur22 pose or function is other than the administration or fund23 ing of benefits under an employee benefit plan for the em24 ployees of a church or convention or association of church25 es.
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1 ‘‘(4) Except as specifically provided in paragraph (5),

2 nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect any

3 State law—

4 ‘‘(A) to the extent that it applies to an insur5 ance company, or insurer, including a health mainte6 nance organization or provider service organization;

7 or

8 ‘‘(B) which is enacted for the purpose of the

9 regulation of the business of insurance, except to the

10 extent that such law is applied directly to a church

11 plan meeting the requirements of this subsection (or

12 any trust forming a part of the plan).

13 ‘‘(5) This title shall supersede any provision of State

14 law which, solely because a church plan meeting the re15 quirements of this subsection (or a trust forming a part

16 of such plan) does not comply with a State law otherwise

17 superseded by this title, prohibits—

18 ‘‘(A) an agent or broker, otherwise authorized

19 to engage in the sale of insurance within a State,

20 from engaging in a sale of insurance in connection

21 with a church plan meeting the requirements of this

22 subsection (or a trust forming a part of such a

23 plan);

24 ‘‘(B) an insurer, otherwise authorized to engage

25 in the sale of stop-loss insurance, from issuing a
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1 stop-loss policy in connection with a church plan

2 meeting the requirements of this subsection (or a

3 trust forming a part of such a plan); or

4 ‘‘(C) a service provider, otherwise authorized to

5 engage in the provision of services within a State,

6 from providing services in connection with a church

7 plan meeting the requirements of this subsection.

8 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

9 to—

10 ‘‘(A) alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair,

11 or supersede any other law of the United States or

12 any rule or regulation issued under any such law;

13 ‘‘(B) alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair,

14 or supersede any law of any State, or any rule or

15 regulation issued under any such law, unless specifi16 cally so provided in this subsection;

17 ‘‘(C) alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair, or

18 supersede any State law to the extent that it im19 poses requirements on policies or contracts of insur20 ance purchased by church plans meeting the require21 ments of this subsection; or

22 ‘‘(D) alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair,

23 or supersede any State law which applies to a func24 tion other than the function of operating a church

25 plan meeting the requirements of this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the terms

2 ‘State’ and ‘State law’ have the meanings provided such

3 terms under section 514(c).’’.

4 SEC. 3. NO INFERENCE.

5 Nothing in this Act may be construed to raise any

6 inference with respect to the applicability to any church

7 plan (or trust forming a part of a church plan) of any

8 State law which is not expressly superseded by reason of

9 the amendments made by this Act.

10 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

12 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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