I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1370

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce mandatory premiums

to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund by

certain surplus amounts in the Fund, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 30, 1995

Mr. MYERS of Indiana (for himself, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. THOMAS,

Mr. SHAW, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky,

Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. HERGER, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. CAMP, Mr. RAMSTAD,

Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. DUNN of Washington,

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania,

Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, and Mr. POMEROY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce

mandatory premiums to the United Mine Workers of

America Combined Benefit Fund by certain surplus

amounts in the Fund, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 1370 IH

1 SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN REQUIRED PREMIUMS TO COM2 BINED FUND BY EXCESS SURPLUS IN FUND.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 9704(e)

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to short5 falls and surpluses) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(3) SHORTFALLS AND SURPLUSES.—

7 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the

9 provisions of clause (iv), the trustees of the

10 Combined Fund shall, as of the close of

11 each plan year beginning on or after Octo12 ber 1, 1993—

13 ‘‘(I) determine any shortfall or

14 surplus in any premium account es15 tablished under paragraph (1) and, to

16 the maximum extent possible, reduce

17 or eliminate any shortfall in any such

18 account by transferring amounts to it

19 from any surplus in any other such

20 account, and

21 ‘‘(II) determine, after any trans22 fers under subclause (I), the aggre23 gate shortfall or surplus in the Com24 bined Fund, taking into account all

25 receipts of any kind during the plan

26 year from all sources.
3

•HR 1370 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATIONS MADE ON

2 CASH FLOW BASIS.—

3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to

4 the provisions of subclause (II) and

5 clause (iii), any determination under

6 clause (i) for any plan year shall be

7 determined under the cash receipts

8 and disbursements method of account9 ing, taking into account only receipts

10 and disbursements for the plan year.

11 ‘‘(II) CERTAIN PRIOR YEAR SUR12 PLUSES.—For purposes of applying

13 subclause (I) for any plan year, any

14 surplus determined under subpara15 graph (A)(i)(II) as of the close of the

16 preceding plan year, including any

17 portion used as provided in subpara18 graph (B), shall be treated as received

19 in the Combined Fund as of the be20 ginning of the plan year.

21 ‘‘(iii) DISREGARD OF TRANSFERRED

22 AMOUNTS.—For purposes of this subpara23 graph—

24 ‘‘(I) no amount transferred to

25 the Combined Fund under section
4

•HR 1370 IH

1 9705, and no disbursements made

2 from such amount, shall be taken into

3 account in making any determination

4 under subparagraph (A) for the plan

5 year of the transfer or any subsequent

6 plan year, and

7 ‘‘(II) any amount in a premium

8 account which was transferred to the

9 Combined Fund under section 9705

10 may not be transferred to another ac11 count under clause (i)(I).

12 ‘‘(iv) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1994.—In

13 the case of the plan year ending September

14 30, 1994, the determinations under sub15 paragraph (A) shall be made for the period

16 beginning February 1, 1993, and ending

17 September 30, 1994.

18 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF SURPLUS.—

19 ‘‘(i) NONPREMIUM ADJUSTMENTS.—

20 Any surplus determined under subpara21 graph (A)(i)(II) for any plan year shall be

22 used first for purposes of the carryover

23 under section 9703(b)(2)(C), but only to

24 the extent the amount of such carryover

25 does not exceed 10 percent of the benefits
5

•HR 1370 IH

1 and administrative costs paid by the Com2 bined Fund during the plan year (deter3 mined without regard to benefits paid from

4 transfers under section 9705).

5 ‘‘(ii) PREMIUM ADJUSTMENTS.—The

6 annual premium for any plan year for each

7 assigned operator which is not a 1988

8 agreement operator shall be reduced by an

9 amount which bears the same ratio to the

10 surplus determined under subparagraph

11 (A)(i)(II) for the preceding plan year (re12 duced as provided under clause (i)) as—

13 ‘‘(I) such assigned operator’s ap14 plicable percentage (expressed as a

15 whole number), bears to

16 ‘‘(II) the sum of the applicable

17 percentages (expressed as whole num18 bers) of all assigned operators which

19 are not 1988 agreement operators.

20 The reduction in any annual premium

21 under this clause shall be allocated to the

22 premium accounts established under para23 graph (1) in the same manner as the an24 nual premium would have been allocated

25 without regard to this clause, and in the
6

•HR 1370 IH

1 case of assigned operators which sought

2 protection under title 11 of the United

3 States Code before October 24, 1992, with4 out regard to section 9706(b)(1)(A). An

5 assigned operator which is delinquent in

6 paying any of the premiums assessed

7 against the operator before the date of the

8 enactment of this sentence (or assessed at

9 any time after such date) shall not be eligi10 ble for a reduction under this clause unless

11 the operator satisfies the delinquency. For

12 purposes of the preceding sentence, an as13 signed operator shall not be treated as de14 linquent with respect to any amount held

15 in escrow, or subject to court-approved se16 curity, pending final determination of as17 sessment.

18 ‘‘(C) SHORTFALLS.—If a shortfall is deter19 mined under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) for any

20 plan year, the annual premium for each as21 signed operator shall be increased by an

22 amount equal to such assigned operator’s appli23 cable percentage of the shortfall. Any increase

24 under this subparagraph shall be allocated to

25 each premium account with a shortfall.
7

•HR 1370 IH

1 ‘‘(D) NO AUTHORITY FOR INCREASE.—

2 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to

3 allow expenditures for health care benefits in

4 any plan year in excess of the limit under sec5 tion 9703(b)(2).

6 ‘‘(E) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1995.—In the

7 case of the plan year beginning October 1,

8 1994, the adjustment under subparagraph (B)

9 shall be made effective as of such date and any

10 assigned operator which receives a reduction in

11 premiums under subparagraph (B) shall be en12 titled to a credit to the extent it has paid, tak13 ing the reduction into account, excessive pre14 miums during plan year.’’

15 (b) AMOUNT OF PER BENEFICIARY PREMIUM.—

16 Paragraph (2) of section 9704(b) of the Internal Revenue

17 Code of 1986 (defining per beneficiary premium) is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting:

20 ‘‘(A) $2,116.67, plus’’, and

21 (2) by striking ‘‘the amount determined under

22 subparagraph (A)’’ in subparagraph (B) and insert23 ing ‘‘$2,116.67,’’.

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause (ii) of sec25 tion 9703(b)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
8

•HR 1370 IH

1 is amended by inserting ‘‘(without regard to any reduction

2 under section 9704(e)(3)(B)(ii))’’ after ‘‘for the plan

3 year’’.

4 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9704(h) of the Internal

6 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to information) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO CONTRIBUTORS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The trustees of the

10 Combined Fund shall, within 30 days of a writ11 ten request, make available to any person re12 quired to make contributions to the Combined

13 Fund or their agent—

14 ‘‘(i) all documents which reflect its fi15 nancial and operational status, including

16 documents under which it is operated, and

17 ‘‘(ii) all documents prepared at the re18 quest of the trustees or staff of the Com19 bined Fund which form the basis for any

20 of its actions or reports, including the eli21 gibility of participants in predecessor

22 plans.

23 ‘‘(B) FEES.—The trustees may charge rea24 sonable fees (not in excess of actual expenses)

25 for providing documents under this paragraph.’’
9

•HR 1370 IH

1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9704(h) of

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking

3 ‘‘(h) INFORMATION.—The’’ and inserting:

4 ‘‘(h) INFORMATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION TO SECRETARY.—The’’.

Æ