Retirement Enhancement Act of 2004

Bill: 108-hr-5397
Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1]
Introduced: 2004-11-19 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Accounting
Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Age
Alimony
Annuities
Armed Forces and National Security
Auditing
Bribery
Business records
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Civil actions and liability
Civil service retirement
Collective bargaining
Commerce
Commercial arbitration
Compensation (Law)
Computer software
Conflict of interests
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal justice information
Defined benefit pension plans
Defined contribution plans
Department of Labor
Disability insurance
Disabled
Discrimination
Divorce
Early retirement
Economics and Public Finance
Embezzlement
Employee benefit plans
Employee ownership
Employee rights
Employers' liability
Evidence (Law)
Executive reorganization
Executives
Extortion
Families
Family leave
Federal employees
Federal preemption
Finance and Financial Sector
Financial planning
Financial services
Financial statements
Fines (Penalties)
Fraud
Gifts
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Health
Health insurance
Identification devices
Income
Individual retirement accounts
Information disclosure (Securities law)
Insurance premiums
Interest
Investment advisers
Investments
Judicial review
Labor contracts
Larceny
Law
Legal fees
Legislation
Liability (Law)
Loans
Married people
Mediation
Medical economics
Military dependents
Military pensions
Missing persons
Ombudsman
Pension funds
Pension portability
Public-private partnerships
Railroad retirement plans
Science, Technology, Communications
Sick leave
Small business
Social Welfare
State laws
Stockholders
Surety and fidelity
Survivors' benefits
Tax-deferred compensation plans
Taxation
Transportation and Public Works
Trusts and trustees
Unemployment insurance
Widowers
Widows
Women
Workers' compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2004-11-19
text: 
Retirement Enhancement Act of 2004 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise or provide pension plan requirements for: (1) plan coverage and participation, defined contribution plan benefit vesting, and simplified pension plans; (2) various pension protections for spouses (under ERISA, the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984, and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974); (3) simplified investment standards, including disclosure regarding investments and voting of proxies, diversification in defined contribution investments, diversification of investments under employee stock ownership plans by participants and beneficiaries over 55 years of age, immediate warning of excessive stock holdings, and reports of trades in employer securities; (4) pension information reporting and enforcement for defined benefit plans and multiemployer plans, including procedures for treatment of missing participants and unclaimed benefits; and (5) various pension protections for a changing workforce, including pension plan qualified loans for health insurance and job training expenses of participants or beneficiaries, immediate distributions if rolled over to qualified plans, and prompt distributions from defined contribution plans upon termination of participants' covered employment. 
 
Establishes an Office of Pension Participant Advocacy in the Department of Labor.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-11-19
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2004-11-19
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2004-11-19
text: Introduced in House