I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4281 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and title 
11, United States Code, to provide necessary reforms for employee pen-
sion benefit plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 10, 2009 
Mr. VISCLOSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 and title 11, United States Code, to provide 
necessary reforms for employee pension benefit plans. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Employees’ Pension 
Security Act of 2009’’. 
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‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to a plan 
described in such clause if the employee organization (or 
all employee organizations, if more than one) referred to 
in such clause file with the Secretary, in such form and 
manner as shall be prescribed in regulations of the Sec-
retary, a written waiver of their rights under clause (i). 
‘‘(iii) In any case in which clause (i) does not apply 
with respect to a pension plan which is a single-employer 
plan because the plan is not described in clause (i) or be-
cause of a waiver filed pursuant to clause (ii), the trustee 
or trustees representing the interests of the participants 
and their beneficiaries shall consist of one or more partici-
pants under the plan elected to serve as such in accord-
ance with this clause. The Secretary shall provide by regu-
lation for a secret ballot of the participants under the plan 
for purposes of such election, and for certification of the 
results thereof to the participants (and any employee orga-
nization referred to in clause (ii)) and to the employer.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 403(a)(1) 
of such Act (as redesignated under subsection (a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Such trustee or trustees’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), such 
trustee or trustees’’; 
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(2) by striking ‘‘fiduciary, and upon accept-
ance’’ and inserting ‘‘fiduciary. Upon acceptance’’; 
and 
(3) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘the plan’’ the first place it appears and 
inserting ‘‘in the case of a plan other than a pension 
plan which is a single-employer plan, the plan’’. 
SEC. 102. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply with 
respect to plan years beginning after 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Labor 
shall prescribe the initial regulations necessary to carry 
out the provisions of such amendments not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE II—INVESTMENT 
INFORMATION 
SEC. 
201. 
PROVISION 
TO 
PARTICIPANTS 
AND 
BENE-
FICIARIES OF MATERIAL INVESTMENT IN-
FORMATION IN ACCURATE FORM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(c) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1104(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) PROVISION OF ACCURATE MATERIAL IN-
VESTMENT ADVICE.—The plan sponsor and plan ad-
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ministrator of a pension plan described in paragraph 
(1) shall have a fiduciary duty to ensure that each 
participant and beneficiary under the plan, in con-
nection with the investment by the participant or 
beneficiary of plan assets in the exercise of his or 
her control over assets in his account, is provided 
with all material investment information regarding 
investment of such assets to the extent that the pro-
vision of such information is generally required to be 
disclosed by the plan sponsor to investors in connec-
tion with such an investment under applicable secu-
rities laws. The provision by the plan sponsor or 
plan administrator of any misleading investment in-
formation shall be treated as a violation of this para-
graph.’’. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 502(c) of such Act 
(29 U.S.C. 1132(c)) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating the second paragraph 
(10) (relating to ongoing consultation between 
the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services) as paragraph 
(12); and 
(B) by inserting after the first paragraph 
(10) the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(11) SECRETARIAL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY 
RELATING TO PROVISION OF ACCURATE MATERIAL 
INVESTMENT ADVICE.—The Secretary may assess a 
civil penalty against any person of up to $1,000 a 
day from the date of the person’s failure or refusal 
to comply with the requirements of section 404(c)(6) 
until such failure or refusal is corrected.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
502(a)(6) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(6)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘(8), or (9)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(8), (9), (10), or (11)’’. 
SEC. 202. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TITLE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply with 
respect to investments made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
TITLE III—STRENGTHENED PRO-
TECTIONS 
AGAINST 
ABUSE 
OF THE BANKRUPTCY AND 
TERMINATION PROCESS 
SEC. 301. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR TERMINATION. 
(a) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
DISTRESS 
TERMINATION.—Section 4041(c)(2) of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1341(c)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of this section, 
unless the corporation or the court, in the case 
of a distress termination pursuant to subpara-
graph (B)(ii), has determined that reasonable 
efforts to consider available alternatives to ter-
mination (including, but not limited to, alter-
natives described in section 4042(c)(4)) have 
been undertaken by such person (and, in the 
case of a plan maintained pursuant to a collec-
tive bargaining agreement, have been under-
taken by the bargaining parties in good faith 
bargaining), the plan may not be terminated. A 
participant or beneficiary of the plan or an em-
ployee organization representing such partici-
pants or beneficiaries may bring an action in 
the appropriate court to challenge such deter-
mination by the corporation and seek equitable 
relief or must be afforded an opportunity to be 
heard by the appropriate court if a court is 
making such determination.’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR COURT DE-
CREES.—Section 4042(c)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1342(c)(1)) is amended— 
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