II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 960

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish pension counseling

programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 5, 1999

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. BREAUX) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish

pension counseling programs, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pension Assistance and

5 Counseling Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PENSION COUNSELING PROGRAMS.

7 Title VII of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42

8 U.S.C. 3058 et seq.) is amended—

9 (1) by redesignating subtitle C as subtitle D;
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1 (2) by redesignating sections 761 through 764

2 as sections 791 through 794, respectively; and

3 (3) by inserting after subtitle B the following:

4 ‘‘Subtitle C—Pension Counseling

5 ‘‘SEC. 761. PENSION COUNSELING PROGRAM.

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

7 ‘‘(1) PENSION AND OTHER RETIREMENT BENE8 FITS.—The term ‘pension and other retirement ben9 efits’ means private, civil service, and other public

10 pensions and retirement benefits, including benefits

11 provided under—

12 ‘‘(A) the Social Security program carried

13 out under title II of the Social Security Act (42

14 U.S.C. 401 et seq.);

15 ‘‘(B) the railroad retirement program car16 ried out under the Railroad Retirement Act of

17 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.);

18 ‘‘(C) the government retirement benefits

19 programs carried out under—

20 ‘‘(i) the Civil Service Retirement Sys21 tem set forth in subchapter III of chapter

22 83 of title 5, United States Code;

23 ‘‘(ii) the Federal Employees Retire24 ment System set forth in chapter 84 of

25 title 5, United States Code;
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1 ‘‘(iii) title 10, United States Code; or

2 ‘‘(iv) any other government retirement

3 system, including any Government pension

4 plan as such term is defined under section

5 9502 of title 31, United States Code; or

6 ‘‘(D) the Employee Retirement Income Se7 curity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).

8 ‘‘(2) PENSION COUNSELING PROGRAM.—The

9 term ‘pension counseling program’ means a program

10 described in subsection (c).

11 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary

12 shall establish and carry out pension counseling projects.

13 In carrying out the projects, the Assistant Secretary shall

14 award grants under subsection (c) and (d).

15 ‘‘(c) PENSION COUNSELING PROGRAMS.—

16 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out the

17 projects specified in subsection (b), the Assistant

18 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to

19 establish programs that create or continue a suffi20 cient number of pension assistance and counseling

21 projects to provide outreach, information, coun22 seling, referral, and other assistance regarding pen23 sion and other retirement benefits, and rights re24 lated to such benefits, to individuals throughout the

25 United States.
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1 ‘‘(2) AWARD OF GRANTS.—

2 ‘‘(A) TYPE OF ENTITY.—The Assistant

3 Secretary shall award under this subsection—

4 ‘‘(i) grants to State agencies or area

5 agencies on aging; and

6 ‘‘(ii) grants to nonprofit organizations

7 with a proven record of providing—

8 ‘‘(I) services related to retirement

9 of older individuals; or

10 ‘‘(II) specific pension counseling.

11 ‘‘(B) PANEL.—In awarding grants under

12 this subsection, the Assistant Secretary shall

13 use a citizen advisory panel that shall include

14 representatives of business, labor, national sen15 ior advocates, and national pension rights advo16 cates.

17 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA.—In awarding grants

18 under this subsection, the Assistant Secretary,

19 after consultation with the panel, shall use as

20 criteria—

21 ‘‘(i) evidence of commitment of an

22 agency or organization to carry out a pro23 posed pension counseling program;

24 ‘‘(ii) the ability of the agency or orga25 nization to perform effective outreach to
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1 affected populations, particularly popu2 lations identified as in need of special out3 reach;

4 ‘‘(iii) reliable information that the

5 population to be served by the agency or

6 organization has a demonstrable need for

7 the services proposed to be provided under

8 the program; and

9 ‘‘(iv) evidence of ability of the agency

10 or organization to provide services under

11 the program on a statewide or regional

12 basis.

13 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re15 ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity

16 shall submit an application to the Assistant

17 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and

18 containing such information as the Assistant

19 Secretary may require, including, at a

20 minimum—

21 ‘‘(i) a plan for the establishment of a

22 pension counseling program to serve a spe23 cific geographic area; and

24 ‘‘(ii) an assurance that staff members

25 (including volunteer staff members) have
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1 no conflict of interest in providing the

2 services described in the plan.

3 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—The plan described in sub4 paragraph (A) shall provide for a program

5 that—

6 ‘‘(i) establishes or continues a State

7 or area pension counseling service;

8 ‘‘(ii) provides counseling (including di9 rect counseling and assistance to individ10 uals needing information) and information

11 that may assist individuals in establishing

12 rights to, obtaining, and filing claims or

13 complaints related to, pension and other

14 retirement benefits;

15 ‘‘(iii) provides information on sources

16 of pension and other retirement benefits,

17 including the benefits under programs de18 scribed in subsection (a)(1);

19 ‘‘(iv) makes referrals to legal services

20 and other advocacy programs;

21 ‘‘(v) establishes a system of referral to

22 Federal, State, and local departments or

23 agencies related to pension and other re24 tirement benefits;
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1 ‘‘(vi) provides a sufficient number of

2 staff positions (including volunteer posi3 tions) to ensure information, counseling,

4 referral, and assistance regarding pension

5 and other retirement benefits;

6 ‘‘(vii) provides training programs for

7 staff members, including volunteer staff

8 members of the programs described in sub9 section (a)(1);

10 ‘‘(viii) makes recommendations to the

11 Administration, the Department of Labor,

12 and other Federal, State, and local agen13 cies concerning issues for older individuals

14 related to pension and other retirement

15 benefits; and

16 ‘‘(ix) establishes or continues to pro17 vide projects to provide outreach, informa18 tion, counseling, referral, and other assist19 ance regarding pension and other retire20 ment benefits, with particular emphasis on

21 outreach to women, minorities, and low-in22 come retirees.

23 ‘‘(d) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRO24 GRAM.—
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1 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out the

2 projects described in subsection (b), the Assistant

3 Secretary shall award a grant to an eligible entity to

4 establish a training and technical assistance pro5 gram to provide—

6 ‘‘(A) information and technical assistance

7 to the staffs of entities operating pension coun8 seling programs; and

9 ‘‘(B) assistance to the entities, including

10 assistance in designing program evaluation

11 tools.

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—Entities eligible to re13 ceive grants under this subsection include nonprofit

14 private organizations with records of providing na15 tional information, referral, and advocacy in matters

16 related to pension and other retirement benefits.

17 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a

18 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit

19 an application to the Assistant Secretary at such

20 time, in such manner, and containing such informa21 tion as the Assistant Secretary may require.

22 ‘‘(e) PENSION ASSISTANCE HOTLINE AND INTER23 AGENCY COORDINATION.—The Assistant Secretary shall

24 enter into interagency agreements for the establishment

25 and operation of, and dissemination of information about,
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1 a telephone hotline for individuals seeking outreach, infor2 mation, counseling, referral, and assistance regarding pen3 sion and other retirement benefits, and rights related to

4 such benefits. The Assistant Secretary shall also enter into

5 agreements with the Secretary of Labor and with the

6 heads of other Federal agencies that regulate the provision

7 of pension and other retirement benefits, as the Assistant

8 Secretary determines to be appropriate, in order to carry

9 out this subsection and to develop a nationwide public-pri10 vate pension assistance system.

11 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

12 ‘‘(1) PREPARATION.—The Assistant Secretary

13 shall prepare a report that—

14 ‘‘(A) summarizes the distribution of funds

15 authorized for grants under this section and the

16 expenditure of such funds;

17 ‘‘(B) summarizes the scope and content of

18 training and assistance provided under a pro19 gram carried out under this section and the de20 gree to which the training and assistance can

21 be replicated;

22 ‘‘(C) outlines the problems that individuals

23 participating in programs funded under this

24 section encountered concerning rights related to

25 pension and other retirement benefits; and
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1 ‘‘(D) makes recommendations regarding

2 the manner in which services provided in pro3 grams funded under this section can be incor4 porated into the ongoing programs of State

5 agencies, area agencies on aging, multipurpose

6 senior centers, and other similar entities.

7 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 months

8 after the date of enactment of this section, the As9 sistant Secretary shall submit the report described

10 in paragraph (1) to the Committee on Education

11 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives

12 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,

13 and Pensions of the Senate.

14 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the funds ap15 propriated under subsection (h) to carry out this section

16 for a fiscal year, not more than $100,000 may be used

17 by the Administration for administrative expenses in car18 rying out this section.

19 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

21 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years

22 2000 through 2003.’’.

23 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

24 (a) REPEALER.—Section 429J of the Older Ameri25 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3035r) is repealed.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (b) of

2 section 794 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (as redes3 ignated in section 2(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘entities

4 described in section 751(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘persons and

5 entities described in section 793(b)’’.

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