(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. 5. 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-
sponsibilities in connection with a plan, or any
other person specifically so designated in con-
nection with any requirement of this Act by the
terms of the instrument or instruments under
which the plan is operated, including but not
limited to the law of any State or of any politi-
cal subdivision of any State, or
(B) in any case in which there is no person
described in subparagraph (A) in connection
with the plan, the plan sponsor.
(2) BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘‘beneficiary’’
means a person designated by a participant, or by
the terms of a public employee pension plan, who is
or may become entitled to a benefit thereunder.
(3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means
any individual employed by an employer, employer
representative, or other person required to make em-
ployer contributions under the plan.
(4) 
EMPLOYEE
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term
‘‘employee organization’’ means any labor union or
any organization of any kind, or any agency or em-
ployee representation committee, association, group,
or plan, in which employees participate and which
exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing
with employers or employer representatives concern-
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,
1998.
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