I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7135 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to clarify 
the obligation of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation to reclaim 
any overpayment of special financial assistance payment under the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan Act of 2021, including amounts paid on behalf of 
a deceased participant or beneficiary, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2024 
Ms. FOXX introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 to clarify the obligation of the Pension Benefit 
Guarantee Corporation to reclaim any overpayment of 
special financial assistance payment under the American 
Rescue Plan Act of 2021, including amounts paid on 
behalf of a deceased participant or beneficiary, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Ghost Handouts and 
Overpayments Stop Today Act’’ or the ‘‘GHOST Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 
has the authority and responsibility to recover tax-
payer funded benefits disbursed by the corporation 
in error, including any amount disbursed to fund 
benefits for participants or beneficiaries who are de-
ceased as of the date of the disbursement. 
(2) The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 
is obligated to ensure, through strong accounting 
processes and controls and using the resources avail-
able (and should follow procedures recommended by 
the Office of the Inspector General and verify census 
data for multiemployer plans that will receive or 
have received special financial assistance), that tax-
payer money is not wasted. 
(3) The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 
is obligated to audit, investigate, and resolve any 
discrepancies in census data for all special financial 
assistance plans, including through matching data 
for participants and beneficiaries to data that re-
sides in the Social Security Administration’s Death 
Master File. 
(4) Multiemployer plans are obligated to remit 
to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and 
the corporation is obligated to take all steps nec-
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essary to ensure full recovery of, the amount of any 
special financial assistance payment made to a mul-
tiemployer plan as a result of an error and the 
amount of any special financial assistance payment 
attributable to any deceased participants or bene-
ficiaries, and the associated earnings thereon. 
SEC. 3. RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4262 of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(o) RECOVERY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the corporation makes a 
determination that an overpayment of special finan-
cial assistance, including an overpayment of special 
financial assistance described in paragraph (2)(A), 
was made under this section, the applicable multiem-
ployer plan (or a successor plan) shall pay, not later 
than 30 days after the date of such determination, 
to the corporation an amount equal to the total 
amount of overpayment of special financial assist-
ance to the applicable multiemployer plan, adjusted 
by the corporation for interest (using the interest 
rate used in determining the amount of special fi-
nancial assistance under subsection (e)(2)) for the 
period beginning on the date on which the special fi-
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nancial assistance was provided to such plan and 
ending on the date that such plan makes the pay-
ment required under this paragraph. 
‘‘(2) RECOVERY IN CASE OF DECEASED PARTIC-
IPANT OR BENEFICIARY.— 
‘‘(A) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 45 
days after the later of the date on which an 
audit conducted under subparagraph (B) is 
complete or the date on which the hearing de-
scribed in subparagraph (C) occurs, the cor-
poration shall make a determination of the total 
amount of special financial assistance paid to 
the applicable multiemployer plan on behalf of 
participants or beneficiaries determined to be 
deceased, which shall be deemed an overpay-
ment of special financial assistance. 
‘‘(B) AUDIT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of enactment of this 
subsection or, in the case of an eligible 
multiemployer plan to which special finan-
cial assistance is provided under this sec-
tion after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, 6 months after the date on 
which such assistance is provided, the cor-
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poration shall audit the census data main-
tained by an eligible multiemployer plan to 
which such assistance was provided to de-
termine— 
‘‘(I) whether any of such assist-
ance was provided on behalf of a par-
ticipant or beneficiary who was de-
ceased as of the date such assistance 
was provided; and 
‘‘(II) the total amount of special 
financial assistance paid to such plan 
on behalf of participants or bene-
ficiaries described in subclause (I). 
‘‘(ii) PROCESS.—In conducting an 
audit under clause (i), the corporation 
shall— 
‘‘(I) 
follow 
a 
process 
rec-
ommended by the Office of the In-
spector General of the Pension Ben-
efit Guaranty Corporation, including 
the recommendations in the white 
paper issued by such Office entitled 
‘Detecting Fraud and Improper Pay-
ments Involving Deceased Partici-
pants’ and dated March 9, 2018; and 
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‘‘(II) match census data with the 
information on records of death main-
tained by the Social Security Adminis-
tration under section 205(r) of the 
Social 
Security 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
405(r)). 
‘‘(iii) REVIEW.—The Office of the In-
spector General of the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation shall review an 
audit conducted under clause (i) prior to 
such audit being provided to an eligible 
multiemployer plan under paragraph (C). 
‘‘(C) HEARING.— 
‘‘(i) NOTICE.—Not later than 10 days 
after the completion of an audit under sub-
paragraph (B), the corporation shall pro-
vide to the eligible multiemployer plan (or 
a successor plan) the following informa-
tion: 
‘‘(I) A list of participants or 
beneficiaries on behalf of whom assist-
ance was provided as described in sub-
paragraph (B)(i)(I). 
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‘‘(II) The total amount of finan-
cial assistance paid as described in 
subparagraph (B)(i)(II). 
‘‘(ii) 
HEARING.—The 
corporation 
shall provide an eligible employer plan with 
the opportunity for a hearing— 
‘‘(I) which shall, unless extenu-
ating circumstances (as determined by 
the corporation) exist, occur not later 
than 60 days after the information de-
scribed in clause (i) is provided to the 
plan; and 
‘‘(II) at which such plan may 
demonstrate that a participant or ben-
eficiary is alive. 
‘‘(3) TRANSFER
TO
GENERAL
FUND.—Any 
amount paid under paragraph (1), or any other pay-
ment that represents a voluntary return of a special 
financial assistance payment, shall be transferred to 
the general fund of the Treasury. 
‘‘(p) PAYMENTS
FROM
APPLICABLE
MULTIEM-
PLOYER PLANS.—The corporation shall accept any pay-
ment (including a payment required under subsection 
(o)(1)) made to such corporation by an eligible multiem-
ployer plan.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to overpayments of 
special financial assistance under section 4262 of the Em-
ployment Retirement Income Security Act (29 U.S.C. 
1104) occurring before, on, or after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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