Title: Pension Accountability Act
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Pension Accountability Act
This bill revises the rules for voting on the suspension of pension benefits under multiemployer plans in critical and declining status. The bill changes the voting procedure for suspending plan benefits to provide that a suspension shall go into effect unless a majority of plan participants and beneficiaries who cast a vote (currently, a majority of all plan participants and beneficiaries) reject the suspension.
The bill also eliminates the authority of the Department of the Treasury, in the case of systemically important plans, to override a vote of plan participants to reject a suspension. A plan is systemically important if projected financial assistance to the plan will exceed $1 billion if suspensions are not implemented.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 833 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 833

 To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to participant votes on the 
   suspension of benefits under multiemployer plans in critical and 
                           declining status.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2019

 Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Brown, and Mrs. Fischer) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to participant votes on the 
   suspension of benefits under multiemployer plans in critical and 
                           declining status.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pension Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. BENEFIT SUSPENSIONS FOR MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS IN CRITICAL AND 
              DECLINING STATUS.

    (a) ERISA Amendments.--Section 305(e)(9)(H) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1085(e)(9)(H)) is 
amended--
            (1) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) by striking ``Except as provided in clause (v), 
                the'' and inserting ``The''; and
                    (B) by striking ``a majority of all participants 
                and beneficiaries of the plan'' and inserting ``, of 
                the participants and beneficiaries of the plan who cast 
                a vote, a majority'';
            (2) by striking clause (v);
            (3) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (v); and
            (4) in clause (v), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by striking ``(or following a determination 
                under clause (v) that the plan is a systemically 
                important plan)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(or, in the case of a suspension 
                that goes into effect under clause (v), at a time 
                sufficient to allow the implementation of the 
                suspension prior to the end of the 90-day period 
                described in clause (v)(I))''.
    (b) IRC Amendments.--Section 432(e)(9)(H) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) by striking ``Except as provided in clause (v), 
                the'' and inserting ``The''; and
                    (B) by striking ``a majority of all participants 
                and beneficiaries of the plan'' and inserting ``, of 
                the participants and beneficiaries of the plan who cast 
                a vote, a majority'';
            (2) by striking clause (v);
            (3) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (v); and
            (4) in clause (v), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by striking ``(or following a determination 
                under clause (v) that the plan is a systemically 
                important plan)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(or, in the case of a suspension 
                that goes into effect under clause (v), at a time 
                sufficient to allow the implementation of the 
                suspension prior to the end of the 90-day period 
                described in clause (v)(I))''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall apply to any vote on the suspension of benefits under section 
305(e)(9)(H) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
U.S.C. 1085(e)(9)(H)) and section 432(e)(9)(H) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 that occurs after the date of enactment of this Act.
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