I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 526
To protect the retirement security of Americans.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 3, 1999
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Gov-
ernment Reform, 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 protect the retirement security of Americans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Retirement Protection Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSION PLANS
Sec. 101. Reporting and disclosure requirements.
Sec. 102. Civil enforcement of public employee pension plan terms.
Sec. 103. Review by qualified review boards of changes in employer contribu-
tions.
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Sec. 104. Effect on other laws.
Sec. 105. Definitions and coverage.
Sec. 106. Effective date.
TITLE II—WOMEN’S PENSION EQUITY
Sec. 201. Model spousal consent form and qualified domestic relations order.
Sec. 202. Extension of tier II railroad retirement benefits to surviving former
spouses pursuant to divorce agreements.
Sec. 203. Survivor annuities for widows, widowers, and former spouses of Fed-
eral employees who die before attaining age for deferred annu-
ity under Civil Service Retirement System.
Sec. 204. Court orders relating to Federal retirement benefits for former
spouses of Federal employees.
TITLE III—EMPLOYER REVERSIONS
Sec. 301. Increase in excise tax on reversions.
Sec. 302. Reversion report.
TITLE IV—ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Sec. 401. Alternative dispute resolution of pension benefit claims.
Sec. 402. Effective date.
TITLE V—ALLOWABLE RELIEF
Sec. 501. Pre-judgment interest, attorney fees, and costs of action.
Sec. 502. Consequential damages.
Sec. 503. Effective date.
TITLE VI—ANNUAL REPORTS
Sec. 601. Annual reports to participants and beneficiaries in understandable
language.
Sec. 602. Effective date.
TITLE I—PUBLIC EMPLOYEE
PENSION PLANS
SEC. 101. REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 210 days after the close
of each plan year, the administrator of each public em-
ployee pension plan shall furnish to each participant, and
to each beneficiary receiving benefits under the plan—
(1) a statement of the assets and liabilities of
the plan aggregated by categories and valued at
their current value, and the same data displayed in
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comparative form for the end of the previous plan
year;
(2) a statement of receipts and disbursements
during the preceding 12-month period aggregated by
general sources and applications;
(3) a report containing—
(A) a description of all investments and as-
sets of the plan, including their value;
(B) the names and positions of all of the
trustees of the plan, and the time remaining be-
fore the expiration of their term;
(C) a description of the method of trustee
selection;
(D) a description of any changes in invest-
ment policy of the plan during the fiscal year;
(E) an evaluation of the long-term solvency
of the plan, including the number of partici-
pants and beneficiaries and a summary of their
benefits, and a projection of the amount of ben-
efits expected to be paid for the fifth, tenth,
and fifteenth plan year following the date of the
publication of the report; and
(F) the percentage which the current value
of the assets of the plan is of the current liabil-
ity under the plan; and
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(4) any other material as is necessary to fairly
summarize the latest annual report.
Such information shall be written and calculated to be un-
derstood by the average plan participant, and shall be suf-
ficiently accurate and comprehensive to reasonably apprise
such participants and beneficiaries of their rights and obli-
gations under the plan.
(b) AVAILABILITY OF PLAN DOCUMENTS FOR EXAM-
INATION.—The administrator shall make copies of the
plan description and the latest annual report and the bar-
gaining agreement, trust agreement, contract, or other in-
struments under which the plan was established or is oper-
ated available for examination by any plan participant or
beneficiary in the principal office of the administrator and
in such other places as may be necessary to make available
all pertinent information to all participants (including
such places as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe by
regulations).
(c) AVAILABILITY
OF
INFORMATION
UPON
RE-
QUEST.—The administrator shall, upon written request of
any participant or beneficiary, furnish a copy of the latest
annual report, any terminal report, the bargaining agree-
ment, trust agreement, contract, or other instruments
under which the plan is established or operated. The ad-
ministrator may make a reasonable charge to cover the
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cost of furnishing such complete copies. The Secretary of
Labor may by regulation prescribe the maximum amount
which will constitute a reasonable charge under the pre-
ceding sentence.
SEC. 102. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PEN-
SION PLAN TERMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A civil action may be brought, by
a participant or beneficiary under a public employee pen-
sion plan, against the plan—
(1) to recover benefits due to him or her under
the terms of the plan, to enforce his or her rights
under the terms of the plan or this title, or to clarify
his or her rights to future benefits under the terms
of the plan;
(2) to enjoin any act or practice which violates
the terms of the plan, or
(3) to obtain other appropriate equitable relief
(A) to redress violations of the terms of the plan or
this title or (B) to enforce the terms of the plan or
this title.
(b) BURDEN OF PROOF.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), in any action brought under this section,
the plaintiff may prevail if the plaintiff proves his or
her case by a preponderance of the evidence.
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(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PLANS SUBJECT TO RE-
VIEW BY QUALIFIED REVIEW BOARDS.—In the case
of a public employee pension plan which meets the
requirements of section 103 in any action brought
under this section relating to a change in employer
contributions, the plaintiff may prevail only if the
plaintiff proves his or her case by clear and convinc-
ing evidence.
(c) PLANS TREATED AS PERSONS.—A public em-
ployee pension plan may sue or be sued under this title
as a person. Service of summons, subpoena, or other legal
process of a court upon a trustee or an administrator of
a public employee pension plan in the trustee’s or adminis-
trator’s capacity as such shall constitute service upon the
plan.
(d) JURISDICTION AND VENUE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—State courts of competent
jurisdiction and district courts of the United States
shall have concurrent jurisdiction of actions brought
under this section. The district courts of the United
States shall have jurisdiction without regard to the
amount in controversy or the citizenship of the par-
ties, to grant the relief provided for in subsection
(a).
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(2) VENUE.—Notwithstanding section 94 of the
National Banking Act (12 U.S.C. 94), in any case
in which an action under this title is brought in a
district court of the United States, it may be
brought in any district of the State where the plan
is administered, where the breach took place, or
where a defendant resides or may be found, and
process may be served in any other district where a
defendant resides or may be found.
(e) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action brought under
this section, the court may in its discretion award a rea-
sonable attorney’s fee and costs of action to any party who
prevails or substantially prevails in such action.
SEC. 103. REVIEW BY QUALIFIED REVIEW BOARDS OF
CHANGES IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A public employee pension plan
meets the requirements of this section if, under the plan,
changes in employer contributions are subject to review
by a qualified review board established for the plan as pro-
vided in this section. For purposes of this section, the term
‘‘qualified review board’’ means a board—
(1) whose membership is determined under the
law of the principal State in accordance with sub-
section (b), and
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(2) whose powers are determined under the law
of the principal State in accordance with subsection
(c).
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The membership of a quali-
fied review board established for a plan shall consist
of 3 members selected from among individuals who,
by means of their education and experience, have
demonstrated expertise in the area of pension fund
management, as follows:
(A) one member is appointed by the Gov-
ernor of the State,
(B) one member is selected by the partici-
pants in the plan, by means of an election held
in such form and manner as shall be prescribed
in regulations of the Secretary of Labor, and
(C) one member is selected jointly by the
Governor and by a representative of partici-
pants in the plan (from a certified list of pen-
sion experts established in accordance with
paragraph (2)).
Each member of the board shall have 1 vote. Mem-
bers of the board shall serve for such equivalent
terms as shall be prescribed under the law of the
principal State.
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(2) CERTIFIED LIST OF EXPERTS.—The Gov-
ernor of the State shall, for purposes of paragraph
(1)(C), establish and maintain with respect to each
public employee pension plan (for which such State
is the principal State) a certified list of pension ex-
perts meeting the requirements for membership on
the qualified review board. Individuals may be in-
cluded on such list only by agreement between the
Governor of the State and a representative elected
by participants in the plan, entered into by means
of collective bargaining in such form and manner as
shall be prescribed in regulations of the Secretary of
Labor.
(c) POWERS.—The board shall be treated as a quali-
fied review board for purposes of this section with respect
to any public employee pension plan (for which such State
is the principal State) only if the powers of such board
under the law of the principal State include review by the
board, for approval or disapproval by the board, of any
change in the terms of such plan, as a necessary pre-
requisite for such change to take effect, if—
(1) such change would have the effect of chang-
ing levels of employer contributions to the plan, and
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ployee pension plan or whose beneficiaries may be el-
igible to receive any such benefit.
(13) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a
State, a political subdivision of a State, any agency
or instrumentality of a State or a political subdivi-
sion of a State, an individual, a partnership, a joint
venture, a corporation, a mutual company, a joint-
stock company, a trust, an estate, an unincorporated
organization, an association, or an employee organi-
zation.
(14) PLAN SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘plan spon-
sor’’ means—
(A) in the case of a plan established or
maintained solely for employees of a single em-
ployer, such employer,
(B) in the case of a plan established or
maintained by an employee organization, the
employee organization, or
(C) in the case of a plan established or
maintained by two or more employers or jointly
by one or more employers and one or more em-
ployee organizations, the association, commit-
tee, board of trustees, or other similar group of
representatives of the parties who establish or
maintain the plan.