SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Employee Pen-
sion Plan Liability Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. 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 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
(B) to enforce the terms of the plan.
(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.
(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 3, in any action brought
under this section, the plaintiff may prevail only if
the plaintiff proves his or her case by clear and con-
vincing evidence.
(c) PLANS TREATED AS PERSONS.—A public em-
ployee pension plan may sue or be sued under this Act
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 court 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).
(2) VENUE.—Notwithstanding section 94 of the
National Banking Act (12 U.S.C. 94), in any case
in which an action under this Act 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. 3. 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
(2) whose powers are determined under the law
of the principal State in accordance with paragraph
(3).
(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 establsihed 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.
(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
(2) such review is requested, in such form and
manner as shall be prescribed in regulations of the
Secretary of Labor, by—
(A) at least one-third of the total number
of trustees of any trust fund forming a part of
the plan, or
(B) the head of any employee organization
representing at least 20 percent of the total
number of active participants in the plan.
The board may be treated as a qualified review board for
purposes of this section only if, under the law of the prin-
cipal State, any such change submitted to such review by
the board may take effect only upon approval of the
change by the board.
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued to alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair, or su-
persede any law of a State or any rule or regulation issued
under any such law, except to the extent that such law—
(1) may now or hereafter relate to the subject
matter of the provisions of this Act as they apply to
any public employee pension plan described in sec-
tion 4(b)(1) and not exempt under section 4(b)(2),
and
(2) prevents the application of such provisions.
(b) STATE CAUSES OF ACTION PRESERVED.—Noth-
ing in this Act shall be construed to apply with respect
to State causes of action available in State courts.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS AND COVERAGE.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act—
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘adminis-
trator’’ means—
(A) the board of trustees, retirement
board, or similar person with administrative re-
ing a public employee pension plan or other matters
incidental to employment relationships; or any em-
ployees’ beneficiary association organized for the
purpose, in whole or in part, of establishing such a
plan.
(5) 
EMPLOYER.—The 
term 
‘‘employer’’
means—
(A) the government of any State or of any
political subdivision of a State,
(B) any agency or instrumentality of a
government referred to in subparagraph (A), or
(C) any agency or instrumentality of two
or more governments referred to in subpara-
graph (A).
(6) 
EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION.—The 
term
‘‘employer contribution’’ means any contribution to
a public employee pension plan other than a con-
tribution made by a participant in the plan.
(7) EMPLOYER
REPRESENTATIVE.—The term
‘‘employer representative’’ means—
(A) any group or association consisting, in
whole or in part, of employers acting, in connec-
tion with a public employee pension plan, for an
employer, or
(B) any person acting, in connection with
a public employee pension plan, indirectly in the
interest of an employer or of a group or asso-
ciation described in subparagraph (A).
(8) PUBLIC
EMPLOYEE
PENSION
PLAN.—The
term ‘‘public employee pension plan’’ and ‘‘plan’’
mean any plan, fund, or program which was here-
tofore or is hereafter established or maintained, in
whole or in part, by an employer, an employer rep-
resentative, or an employee organization, or by a
combination thereof, to the extent that by its express
terms or as a result of surrounding circumstances
such plan, fund, or program—
(A) provides retirement income to employ-
ees, or
(B) results in a deferral of income by em-
ployees for periods extending to the termination
of covered employment or beyond,
regardless of the method of calculating the contribu-
tions made to the plan, the method of calculating
the benefits under the plan, or the method of distrib-
uting benefits from the plan.
(9) PRINCIPAL
STATE.—The term ‘‘principal
State’’ means, for any plan year with respect to a
public employee pension plan, the State in which, as
of the beginning of such plan year, the largest per-
centage of the participants of the plan employed in
any single State is employed.
(10) 
GOVERNOR.—The 
term 
‘‘Governor’’
means, in connection with a public employee pension
plan, the Governor (or equivalent official) of the
principal State.
(11) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’
means any individual who is or may become eligible
to receive a benefit of any type from a public em-
ployee pension plan or whose beneficiaries may be el-
igible to receive any such benefit.
(12) 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.
(13) 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.
(14) PLAN
YEAR.—The term ‘‘plan year’’
means, with respect to a plan, the calendar, policy,
or fiscal year on which the records of the plan are
kept.
(15) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any
State of the United States, the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-
lands, American Samoa, and Guam.
(b) COVERAGE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), this Act shall apply to any public em-
ployee pension plan.
(2) EXCEPTIONS FROM COVERAGE.—The provi-
sions of this Act shall not apply to—
(A) any employee benefit plan described in
section 4(a) of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1003(a)), which is not exempt under section
4(b)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(1));
(B) any plan which is unfunded and is
maintained by an employer or employer rep-
resentative primarily for the purpose of provid-
ing deferred compensation for a select group of
management or highly compensated employees;
(C) any arrangement which would be a
severance pay arrangement, as defined in regu-
lations of the Secretary of Labor under section
3(2)(B)(i) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security 
Act 
of 
1974 
(29 
U.S.C.
1002(2)(B)(i)), if the employer were an em-
ployer within the meaning of section 3(5) of
such Act (29 U.S.C. 1002(5));
(D) any agreement to the extent it is a
coverage agreement entered into pursuant to
section 218 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 418);
(E) any individual retirement account or
any individual retirement annuity within the
meaning of section 408 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, or a retirement bond within the
meaning of section 409 of such Code;
(F) any plan described in section 401(d) of
such Code;
(G) any individual account plan consisting
of an annuity contract described in section
403(b) of such Code;
(H) any eligible State deferred compensa-
tion plan, as defined in section 457(b) of such
Code; or
(I) any plan maintained solely for the pur-
pose of complying with applicable workers’ com-
pensation laws or disability insurance laws.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The preceding provisions of this Act shall apply with
respect to plan years beginning on or after January 1,
1996.
Æ