I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7026 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide 
for greater spousal protection under defined contribution plans, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2018 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, and Mr. NORCROSS) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 to provide for greater spousal protection under 
defined contribution plans, 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 ‘‘Women’s Pension Pro-
tection Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
(1) Approximately 29 percent of households 
headed by individuals aged 55 through 74 have no 
defined benefit plan or retirement savings, according 
to 2016 data from the Survey of Consumer Fi-
nances. 
(2) Approximately 34 percent of the private sec-
tor workforce does not have access to a retirement 
plan at the workplace, and only half of the workforce 
actually participates in a retirement plan. 
(3) Women’s retirement preparedness often lags 
significantly behind their male counterparts, result-
ing in the median retirement income for women in 
2014 being just 54 percent of men’s retirement in-
come. 
(4) Women are 1.5 times as likely as men to 
live in poverty after age 65. 
(5) Women make up 2⁄3 of low-wage workers, 
even though they comprise less than half of all work-
ers, and low-wage workers are less likely than other 
workers to participate in a retirement plan at work. 
(6) The cost impact on women who leave the 
workforce early to become caregivers, in terms of 
lost wages and Social Security benefits, equals 
$324,044 in lost retirement savings. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:35 Oct 12, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
(7) Just 1 in 5 part-time workers who work a 
full year are eligible for a retirement plan, and 
women are almost twice as likely to work part-time 
as men. 
(8) While traditional defined benefit retirement 
plans have spousal protections, defined contribution 
retirement plans, which have become increasingly 
common, currently provide no similar spousal protec-
tions. 
(9) Every year more than 1,200,000 couples get 
divorced in the United States. After the family 
home, retirement savings are the largest asset that 
must be divided at divorce. 
(10) While fees and expenses associated with 
retirement plans have been in decline, participants 
have seen direct charges for processing qualified do-
mestic relations orders increase significantly. 
SEC. 3. INCREASING SPOUSAL PROTECTION UNDER DE-
FINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part 2 of subtitle B of title I of 
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(29 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 205 the following new section: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘SEC. 205A. ADDITIONAL SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each individual account plan to 
which section 205 does not apply shall provide that, except 
as provided in subsections (c) and (d), no distribution may 
be made under the plan unless the spousal consent re-
quirements of subsection (e) are met. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 205.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to exempt an individual 
account plan from the requirements of paragraph (1)(C) 
or (2) of section 205(b) with respect to any participant. 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBUTIONS.— 
Subsection (a) shall not apply to— 
‘‘(1) any distribution that is— 
‘‘(A) a minimum required distribution de-
scribed in section 4974(b) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986; 
‘‘(B) a result of the use of the partici-
pant’s accrued benefit as security for a loan, in-
cluding any distribution required by reason of a 
failure to comply with the terms of such loan; 
‘‘(C) made upon hardship of the partici-
pant; or 
‘‘(D) permitted under section 203(e)(1) to 
be made without the consent of the participant; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) any distribution in the form of a qualified 
joint and survivor annuity (as defined in section 
205(d)(1)), a qualified optional survivor annuity (as 
defined in section 205(d)(2)), a qualified preretire-
ment survivor annuity (as defined in section 205(e)), 
or a series of substantially equal periodic payments 
(not less frequently than annually) made for the 
joint lives (or life expectancies) of the participant 
and the participant’s spouse; or 
‘‘(3) in the case of a participant who does not 
elect a form of benefit described in paragraph (2) 
under the plan or who is participating in a plan that 
does not provide such a form of benefit, any dis-
tribution of the participant’s entire nonforfeitable 
accrued benefit if 50 percent of such accrued benefit 
is transferred to an individual retirement plan (as 
defined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986) of the spouse of the participant. 
A transfer described in paragraph (3) to an individual re-
tirement plan shall be treated in the same manner as a 
transfer under section 408(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986. 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN ROLLOVER CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to any dis-
tribution that is an eligible rollover distribution (as de-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
fined in section 402(f)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986) made in the form of a direct trustee-to-trustee 
transfer within the meaning of section 401(a)(31) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986— 
‘‘(1) to a plan to which this section or section 
205 applies; or 
‘‘(2) to an individual retirement plan (as de-
fined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986) if— 
‘‘(A) the beneficiary of such plan is the 
spouse of the participant, or the spousal con-
sent requirements of subsection (e) are met 
with respect to any designation of 1 or more 
other beneficiaries; and 
‘‘(B) the beneficiary of such plan (whether 
the spouse or other beneficiary designated 
under paragraph (1)) may not be changed un-
less— 
‘‘(i) the spousal consent requirements 
of subsection (e) are met with respect to 
any such change; or 
‘‘(ii) the spousal consent under sub-
paragraph (A) to the designation of a ben-
eficiary other than the spouse expressly 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
permits such designation to be changed 
without the further consent of the spouse. 
‘‘(e) SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, except as provided in paragraph (2), the spous-
al consent requirements of this subsection are met 
with respect to any distribution or any designation 
or change of beneficiary if— 
‘‘(A) the plan provides to each participant, 
within a reasonable period of time before such 
distribution or designation or change of bene-
ficiary is made and consistent with such regula-
tions as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre-
scribe, a written explanation of the rights of the 
participant and the participant’s spouse under 
this section; 
‘‘(B) the spouse of the participant consents 
in writing to the distribution or designation or 
change of beneficiary; 
‘‘(C) in the case of a distribution, the writ-
ten consent under subparagraph (B) is made 
during the consent period; and 
‘‘(D) the written consent under subpara-
graph (B)— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(i) acknowledges the effect of such 
distribution or designation or change of 
beneficiary; and 
‘‘(ii) is witnessed by a plan represent-
ative or a notary public. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS UNDER SECTION 205(C)(2)(B) 
TO
APPLY.—The requirements of paragraph (1) 
(other than subparagraph (A) thereof) shall not 
apply with respect to any distribution or designation 
or change of beneficiary if a participant establishes 
to the satisfaction of the plan administrator that— 
‘‘(A) there is no spouse; 
‘‘(B) the participant and the participant’s 
spouse have not been married throughout the 1- 
year period ending on the date of the distribu-
tion or designation or change of beneficiary; or 
‘‘(C) such consent cannot be obtained be-
cause— 
‘‘(i) the spouse cannot be located; 
‘‘(ii) due to exceptional circumstances, 
requiring the participant to seek the 
spouse’s consent would be inappropriate; 
or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:29 Oct 11, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7026.IH
H7026
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS