I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 323
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
to provide for joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 8, 2003
Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. WYNN, Mr. OBERSTAR, and Mr. 
STUPAK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 to provide for joint trusteeship of single-
employer pension plans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO TRUSTEESHIP 
OF SINGLE-EMPLOYER PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1103(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
(2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2)(A) The assets of a pension plan which is a sin-
gle-employer plan shall be held in trust by a joint board 
of trustees, which shall consist of two or more trustees 
representing on an equal basis the interests of the em-
ployer or employers maintaining the plan and the interests 
of the participants and their beneficiaries. 
‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), in any case 
in which the plan is maintained pursuant to one or more 
collective bargaining agreements between one or more em-
ployee organizations and one or more employers, the trust-
ees representing the interests of the participants and their 
beneficiaries pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be des-
ignated by such employee organizations. 
‘‘(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’’; 
(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. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by section 1 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.
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