‘‘(I) publish notice in the Federal Register of
the pendency of the exemption,
‘‘(II) require that adequate notice be given to
interested persons, including the insurance commis-
sioner (or similar official having jurisdiction over the
offering or sale of insurance) of each State in which
the multiple employer welfare arrangement offers or
provides, or intends to offer or provide, benefits, and
‘‘(III) afford interested persons opportunity to
present views.
The Secretary may not grant an exemption under this
subparagraph unless the Secretary affords an opportunity
for a hearing and makes a determination on the record
with respect to the findings required by clauses (I), (II),
and (III) of clause (ii).
‘‘(iv) Any determination made by the Secretary under
this subparagraph shall be in the Secretary’s sole discre-
tion.’’.
(b) TRANSITIONAL RULE.—During the 540-day pe-
riod commencing with the date of the enactment of this
Act, section 514(b)(6)(A) of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1144(b)(6)(A))
shall not apply to any multiple employer welfare arrange-
ment which, as of such date, is an employee welfare bene-
fit plan which provides benefits for medical care (within
the meaning of section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986) to participants and beneficiaries, if—
(1) an application for an exemption with re-
spect to such arrangement is filed pursuant to sec-
tion 514(b)(6)(B)(i) of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 (as amended by this Act)
during the 180-day period following the date of the
enactment of this Act, and
(2) as of 90 days after receipt of the exemption
application, the Secretary of Labor has not found
such application to be materially deficient.
If the Secretary determines, at any time after the date
of the enactment of this Act, that such exemption from
such section 514(b)(6)(A) would be detrimental to the in-
terests of participants or beneficiaries of a multiple em-
ployer welfare arrangement, such exclusion shall cease as
of the date of the determination. Any determination made
by the Secretary under this subsection shall be in the Sec-
retary’s sole discretion.
SEC. 308. CLARIFICATION OF STATES’ ABILITY TO OBTAIN
INFORMATION.
Section 514(b) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1144(b)) is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
100
‘‘(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec-
tion, in the case of an employee welfare benefit plan, any
law of any State which regulates insurance may apply to
such plan to the extent that such law, in connection with
an investigation to determine whether or not a person has
violated or is about to violate a provision of such law, gives
the State the ability to require disclosure of information
necessary to determine whether such plan—
‘‘(A) is a multiple employer welfare arrange-
ment,
‘‘(B) is in compliance with an exemption grant-
ed by the Secretary under paragraph (6)(B)(i), or
‘‘(C) 
is 
in 
compliance 
with 
paragraph
(6)(B)(ii).’’.
SEC. 309. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this title shall take effect
upon the date of enactment of this Act.
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