I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4610 

To amend the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act of 1974 and 

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the electronic delivery 

of pension plan information. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2017 

Mr. POLIS (for himself, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. KIND, Mr. KELLY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. ALLEN, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 

GROTHMAN, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, 

Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. 

POCAN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. TROTT, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, and Mrs. WALORSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition 

to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Employee Retirement and Income Security 

Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

to provide for the electronic delivery of pension plan 

information. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Receiving Electronic 

3 Statements To Improve Retiree Earnings Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OF PENSION PLAN 

5 INFORMATION. 

6 (a) AMENDMENTS TO EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT IN7 COME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of subtitle B of title 

9 I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 

10 of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 112. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OF PENSION 

13 PLAN INFORMATION. 

14 ‘‘A document of any type that is required under this 

15 title to be furnished to a plan participant, beneficiary, or 

16 other individual with respect to a pension plan may be fur17 nished in electronic form if— 

18 ‘‘(1) the system for furnishing such a docu19 ment— 

20 ‘‘(A) is designed to result in effective ac21 cess to the document by the participant, bene22 ficiary, or other specified individual through 

23 electronic means, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) the direct delivery of material to 

25 an electronic address of such participant, 

26 beneficiary, or individual, 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the posting of material to a 

2 website or other internet or electronic3 based information repository to which ac4 cess has been granted to such participant, 

5 beneficiary, or individual, but only if prop6 er notice of the posting has been provided 

7 (which may include notice furnished by 

8 other electronic means if the content of the 

9 notice conveys the need to take action to 

10 access the posted material), and 

11 ‘‘(iii) other electronic means reason12 ably calculated to ensure actual receipt of 

13 the material by such participant, bene14 ficiary, or individual, 

15 ‘‘(B) permits the participant, beneficiary, 

16 or other individual to select among the specific 

17 electronic means made available through which 

18 such a document shall be furnished, to modify 

19 that selection at any time, or to elect at any 

20 time to begin receiving paper versions of such 

21 documents at no additional direct cost to the in22 dividual, and 

23 ‘‘(C) protects the confidentiality of per24 sonal information relating to such participant’s, 


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1 beneficiary’s, or individual’s accounts and bene2 fits, 

3 ‘‘(2) an annual paper notice is provided to each 

4 participant, beneficiary, or other individual that de5 scribes— 

6 ‘‘(A) the selection of the specific electronic 

7 means for the furnishing of such documents 

8 made by the participant, beneficiary, or other 

9 individual under paragraph (1)(B) in effect at 

10 the time of the provision of the notice, 

11 ‘‘(B) the right to modify the selection at 

12 any time, or to elect at any time to receive 

13 paper versions of documents at no additional di14 rect cost, and how to make such an election, 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) if applicable, the election made by the 

17 participant, beneficiary, or other individual 

18 under paragraph (1)(B) to be furnished paper 

19 versions of such documents, and 

20 ‘‘(3) the electronically furnished document— 

21 ‘‘(A) is prepared and furnished in a man22 ner that is consistent with the style, format, 

23 and content requirements applicable to the par24 ticular document, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes a notice that apprises the in2 dividual of the significance of the document 

3 when it is not otherwise reasonably evident as 

4 transmitted. 

5 For purposes of this section, the term ‘document’ in6 cludes reports, statements, notices, notifications, and 

7 other information.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

9 contents in section 1 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1001 

10 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

11 to section 111 the following: 

‘‘112. Electronic communication of pension plan information.’’. 

12 (b) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF

13 1986.—Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(aa) ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OF PENSION

16 PLAN INFORMATION.—A document of any type that is re17 quired under this title to be furnished to a plan partici18 pant, beneficiary, or other individual with respect to a plan 

19 to which this subchapter or section 457 applies may be 

20 furnished in electronic form if— 

21 ‘‘(1) the system for furnishing such a docu22 ment— 

23 ‘‘(A) is designed to result in effective ac24 cess to the document by the participant, beneVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 Dec 14, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4610.IH H4610

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1 ficiary, or other specified individual through 

2 electronic means, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) the direct delivery of material to 

4 an electronic address of such participant, 

5 beneficiary, or individual, 

6 ‘‘(ii) the posting of material to a 

7 website or other internet or electronic8 based information repository to which ac9 cess has been granted to such participant, 

10 beneficiary, or individual, but only if prop11 er notice of the posting has been provided 

12 (which may include notice furnished by 

13 other electronic means if the content of the 

14 notice conveys the need to take action to 

15 access the posted material), and 

16 ‘‘(iii) other electronic means reason17 ably calculated to ensure actual receipt of 

18 the material by such participant, bene19 ficiary, or individual, 

20 ‘‘(B) permits the participant, beneficiary, 

21 or other individual to select among the specific 

22 electronic means made available through which 

23 such a document shall be furnished, to modify 

24 that selection at any time, or to elect at any 

25 time to begin receiving paper versions of such 


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1 documents at no additional direct cost to the in2 dividual, and 

3 ‘‘(C) protects the confidentiality of per4 sonal information relating to such participant’s, 

5 beneficiary’s, or individual’s accounts and bene6 fits, 

7 ‘‘(2) an annual paper notice is provided to each 

8 participant, beneficiary, or other individual that de9 scribes— 

10 ‘‘(A) the selection of the specific electronic 

11 means for the furnishing of such documents 

12 made by the participant, beneficiary, or other 

13 individual under paragraph (1)(B) in effect at 

14 the time of the provision of the notice, 

15 ‘‘(B) the right to modify the selection at 

16 any time, or to elect at any time to receive 

17 paper versions of documents at no additional di18 rect cost, and how to make such an election, 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) if applicable, the election made by the 

21 participant, beneficiary, or other individual 

22 under paragraph (1)(B) to be furnished paper 

23 versions of such documents, and 

24 ‘‘(3) the electronically furnished document— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is prepared and furnished in a man2 ner that is consistent with the style, format, 

3 and content requirements applicable to the par4 ticular document, and 

5 ‘‘(B) includes a notice that apprises the in6 dividual of the significance of the document 

7 when it is not otherwise reasonably evident as 

8 transmitted. 

9 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘document’ 

10 includes reports, statements, notices, notifications, 

11 and other information.’’. 

12 (c) PROTECTION OF EXISTING METHODS.—Nothing 

13 in the amendments made by this section shall be construed 

14 to prohibit— 

15 (1) the furnishing of documents by electronic 

16 means under any law or under any regulations or 

17 guidance prescribed by the Secretary of Labor or the 

18 Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this sub19 section as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) prior to the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act; or 

21 (2) the Secretaries from prescribing additional 

22 methods for furnishing documents as the Secretaries 

23 deem necessary or appropriate. 

24 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

25 this section shall apply with respect to documents furVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 Dec 14, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4610.IH H4610

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1 nished with respect to plan years beginning after Decem2 ber 31, 2018. 

Æ 


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