From the Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C. … The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act (H.R. 397), with 29 Republicans joining the majority in a 264-169 vote. Advocates argue the measure is needed to protect the pensions of 1.3 million workers in certain multiemployer pension plans (MEPP)—up to half of which cover construction trades participants—and prevent a Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) collapse.
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Multiemployer pension reform carries into new Congress
Although a late-2018 deadline passed without a formal proposal, members of the U.S. Senate Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans vowed to continue pursuing a solution to the funding crisis engulfing organized labor retirement systems. In a joint statement, co-chairs Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and his retiring colleague, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), noted:
Read MoreLawmakers vow to craft multiemployer pension reform proposal
Source: U.S. Senate Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans
After a November 30 deadline for submitting a proposal addressing a funding crisis engulfing multiemployer pension plans, Senior Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have committed to pursuing a bipartisan solution. In a statement, they indicated that efforts of Joint Select Committee they co-chair will carry on:
Read MoreMultiemployer Pension law frees union to cut benefits, avert fund insolvency
The U.S. Treasury Department has certified the results of an election in which Iron Workers Local 17 (Cleveland) Pension Fund participants have approved benefit cuts now to avoid a projected fund insolvency in 2024. Votes were cast 2 to 1 in favor of approving a plan that calls for accrued benefit reduction plus elimination of early retirement subsidies and extra benefit credits.
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