I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2078
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
to require equitable funding of pension plans maintained by corporations 
which also maintain executive pension plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2003
Mr. OSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 to require equitable funding of pension 
plans maintained by corporations which also maintain 
executive pension 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 
Equity Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Some large companies are setting aside mil-
lions of dollars to protect pensions of highly com-
pensated executives at the same time as they forgo 
contributions to financially strained and under-
funded pension plans for non-executive workers. 
Underfunding of pension plans for non-executives 
has been increasing. 
(2) There are a variety of pension-type ‘‘supple-
mental executive retirement plans’’ for highly com-
pensated executives, including: unfunded executive 
pension plans; executive plan ‘‘rabbi trusts,’’ which 
are not taxable when established but are subject to 
creditors’ claims; executive plan ‘‘secular trusts,’’ 
where company contributions are taxable but not 
subject to creditors’ claims; and, corporate-owned, 
trust-owned, or split-dollar life insurance. 
(3) It is difficult to compare the funding levels 
of regular pension plans and executive pensions. 
Under current law, companies must disclose pension 
assets and liabilities, company contributions, and 
other details of employee pension plans in their an-
nual reports. But, for executive pensions, companies 
are only required by the Securities and Exchange 
Commission to disclose the existence of trusts they 
establish for their Chief Executive Officer and their
four other highest-paid executive officers, and not 
the amount of money in them or other details. 
SEC. 3. EQUITABLE FUNDING REQUIREMENT FOR EMPLOY-
ERS MAINTAINING AN EXECUTIVE PENSION 
PLAN. 
Section 302 of the Employee Retirement Income Se-
curity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1082) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-
section (i); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(h) EQUITABLE FUNDING REQUIREMENT FOR EM-
PLOYERS MAINTAINING AN EXECUTIVE PENSION PLAN.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section—
‘‘(A) EXECUTIVE
PENSION
PLAN.—The 
term ‘executive pension plan’ means, with re-
spect to an employer, any pension plan main-
tained by such employer primarily for the pur-
pose of providing for the deferral of compensa-
tion of one or more highly compensated employ-
ees of such employer. 
‘‘(B) NON-EXECUTIVE
PENSION
PLAN.—
The term ‘non-executive pension plan’ means, 
with respect to an employer, a pension plan
maintained by such employer other than an ex-
ecutive pension plan maintained by such em-
ployer. 
‘‘(C) HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE.—
The term ‘highly compensated employee’ has 
the meaning provided such term in section 
414(q) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(D) FUNDED CURRENT LIABILITY PER-
CENTAGE.—The term ‘funded current liability 
percentage’ has the meaning provided such 
term in subsection (d)(8)(B). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—In any case in which—
‘‘(A) an employer maintains a non-execu-
tive pension plan to which this part applies, and 
‘‘(B) the employer also maintains an exec-
utive pension plan for any plan year ending 
with or during a plan year of such non-execu-
tive pension plan, 
the employer shall meet the equitable funding re-
quirement of this subsection for such plan year of 
such non-executive pension plan. 
‘‘(3) EQUITABLE
FUNDING
REQUIREMENT.—
The equitable funding requirement of this subsection 
is met by an employer for a plan year if—