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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5397
To improve the retirement security of American families.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2004
Mr. Andrews introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the retirement security of American families.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Retirement
Enhancement Act of 2004''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
TITLE I--IMPROVED PARTICIPATION AND VESTING
Sec. 101. Minimum coverage requirements.
Sec. 102. Minimum participation requirements.
Sec. 103. Faster vesting of benefits under defined contribution plans.
Sec. 104. Prohibition of requests by plan sponsors for waiver of
employee rights.
Sec. 105. Model small employer group pension plan.
Sec. 106. Enforcement under ERISA of requirements for simplified
employee pensions.
TITLE II--IMPROVED PENSION PROTECTIONS FOR WOMEN
Sec. 201. Elimination of integration with workers' compensation and
similar benefits.
Sec. 202. Spousal consent required for distributions from defined
contribution plans.
Sec. 203. Modification of joint and survivor annuity requirements.
Sec. 204. Division of pension benefits upon divorce.
Sec. 205. Periods of family and medical leave treated as hours of
service for pension participation and
vesting.
Sec. 206. Right of spouse to know distribution information.
Sec. 207. Repeal of reduction in military Survivor Benefit Plan
annuities at age 62.
Sec. 208. Survivor annuities for widows, widowers, and former spouses
of Federal employees who die before
attaining age for deferred annuity under
Civil Service Retirement System.
Sec. 209. Order of precedence for disposition of amounts remaining in
the thrift savings account of a Federal
employee (or former employee) who dies
before making an effective election
controlling such disposition.
Sec. 210. Amendments relating to effective date provision of the Civil
Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of
1984.
Sec. 211. Entitlement of divorced spouses to railroad retirement
annuities independent of actual entitlement
of employee.
Sec. 212. Extension of tier II railroad retirement benefits to
surviving former spouses pursuant to
divorce agreements.
TITLE III--SIMPLIFIED INVESTMENT STANDARDS
Sec. 301. Exemption from prohibited transaction rules for certain
aborted emergent transactions.
Sec. 302. Prohibited transaction exemption for the provision of
investment advice.
Sec. 303. Participation of participants in trusteeship of single-
employer plans providing for employee
contributions.
Sec. 304. Diversification of investment of account assets held under
individual account plans.
Sec. 305. Removal of $500,000 cap on bonding requirement.
Sec. 306. Disclosure regarding investments and voting of proxies.
Sec. 307. Immediate warning of excessive stock holdings.
Sec. 308. Report to participants and beneficiaries of trades in
employer securities.
TITLE IV--IMPROVEMENTS IN PENSION INFORMATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 401. Pension benefit information.
Sec. 402. Disclosures to Secretary of Labor relating to plan
termination and relating to plan sponsors
after acquisition or merger of plans.
Sec. 403. Disclosure of operating income of employers adjusted so as to
exclude certain components mandated in FASB
rules governing accounting for defined
benefit pension plans.
Sec. 404. Specific information regarding multiemployer plans included
in annual report.
Sec. 405. Limited scope audits.
Sec. 406. Reporting and enforcement requirements for employee benefit
plans.
Sec. 407. Study of pension trends and characteristics.
Sec. 408. Early resolution program for pension benefit claims.
Sec. 409. Review of benefit determinations.
Sec. 410. Allowable relief.
Sec. 411. Assessment by Secretary of Labor of penalties for failures to
meet disclosure requirements.
Sec. 412. Missing participants and unclaimed benefits.
Sec. 413. Fiduciary duties with respect to changes in investment
options.
Sec. 414. Office of Pension Participant Advocacy.
Sec. 415. Exclusivity of powers and procedures applicable to rights or
claims.
TITLE V--IMPROVED PENSION PROTECTIONS FOR THE CHANGING WORKFORCE
Sec. 501. Loans from retirement plans for health insurance and job
training expenses.
Sec. 502. Automatic rollover upon mandatory distribution in excess of
$1,000.
Sec. 503. Prompt distribution from defined contribution plans upon
termination of participant's covered
employment.
TITLE VI--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. General effective date.
Sec. 602. Plan amendments.
TITLE I--IMPROVED PARTICIPATION AND VESTING
SEC. 101. MINIMUM COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Part 2 of subtitle B of title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 201 the following new section:
``minimum coverage requirements
``Sec. 201A. (a) General Rule.--Each pension plan maintained by an
employer shall benefit all employees of the employer.
``(b) Exclusion of Certain Employees.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), in
determining, in the case of any plan, whether the requirements
of subsection (a) are met with respect to the employees of the
employer maintaining the plan, there shall be excluded from
consideration--
``(A) employees who are included in a unit of
employees covered by an agreement which, as determined
in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary,
constitutes a collective bargaining agreement between
employee representatives and the employer or 2 or more
employers including the employer, if there is evidence
that retirement benefits were the subject of good faith
bargaining between the employee representatives and the
employer or employers,
``(B) in the case of a trust, forming a part of the
plan, which is established or maintained pursuant to an
agreement which, as determined in accordance with
regulations issued by the Secretary, constitutes a
collective bargaining agreement between airline pilots
represented in accordance with title II of the Railway
Labor Act and the employer or 2 or more employers
including the employer, all employees not covered by
the agreement, and
``(C) employees who are nonresident aliens and who
receive no earned income (within the meaning of section
911(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) from
the employer which constitutes income from sources
within the United States (within the meaning of section
861(a)(3) of such Code).
``(2) Special rules.--
``(A) Treatment of employees in units covered by
collective bargaining agreements.--Subsection (a) shall
apply separately with respect to employees (of an
employer referred to in paragraph (1)(A)) who are in a
unit of employees described in paragraph (1)(A).
``(B) Treatment of certain airline employees.--
Paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply in the case of any
plan (of which the trust referred to in paragraph
(1)(B) forms a part) if the plan provides for
contributions or benefits for employees whose principal
duties are not customarily performed aboard aircraft in
flight.
``(c) Exclusion of Employees not Meeting Age and Service
Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--If a plan--
``(A) prescribes, consistent with section 202(a),
minimum age and service requirements as a condition of
participation, and
``(B) excludes all employees not meeting such
requirements from participation,
then such employees shall be excluded from consideration for
purposes of this section.
``(2) Requirements may be met separately with respect to
excluded group.--If employees not meeting the minimum age or
service requirements of section 202(a)(1) (without regard to
subparagraph (B) thereof) are covered under a plan of the
employer which meets the requirements of subsection (a)
separately with respect to such employees, such employees may
be excluded from consideration in determining whether any plan
of the employer meets the requirements of subsection (a).
``(3) Requirements not treated as being met before entry
date.--An employee shall not be treated as meeting the age and
service requirements described in this subsection until the
first date on which, under the plan, any employee with the same
age and service would be eligible to commence participation in
the plan.
``(d) Line of Business Exception.--
``(1) In general.--If, under section 414(r) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, an employer is treated as operating
separate lines of business for a year, the employer may apply
the requirements of this section for such year separately with
respect to employees in each separate line of business.
``(2) Plan must be nondiscriminatory.--Paragraph (1) shall
not apply with respect to any plan maintained by an employer
unless such plan benefits such employees as qualify under a
classification set up by the employer and found by the
Secretary of the Treasury not to be discriminatory in favor of
highly compensated employees.
``(e) Definitions and Special Rules.--For purposes of this
section--
``(1) Highly compensated employee.--The term `highly
compensated employee' has the meaning given such term by
section 414(q) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(2) Aggregation rules.--An employer may elect to
designate--
``(A) 2 or more trusts,
``(B) 1 or more trusts and 1 or more annuity plans,
or
``(C) 2 or more annuity plans,
as part of 1 plan to determine whether the requirements of this
section are met with respect to such plan.
``(3) Special rules for certain dispositions or
acquisitions.--
``(A) In general.--If a person becomes, or ceases
to be, a member of a group described in subsection (b),
(c), (m), or (o) of section 414 of such Code, then the
requirements of this section shall be treated as having
been met during the transition period with respect to
any plan covering employees of such person or any other
member of such group if--
``(i) such requirements were met
immediately before each such change, and
``(ii) the coverage under such plan is not
significantly changed during the transition
period (other than by reason of the change in
members of a group) or such plan meets such
other requirements as the Secretary of the
Treasury may prescribe by regulation.
``(B) Transition period.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the term `transition period' means
the period--
``(i) beginning on the date of the change
in members of a group, and
``(ii) ending on the last day of the 1st
plan year beginning after the date of such
change.
``(4) Eligibility to contribute.--In the case of
contributions which are subject to section 401(k) or 401(m) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, employees who are eligible
to contribute (or elect to have contributions made on their
behalf) shall be treated as benefiting under the plan.
``(5) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate
to carry out the purposes of this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of such
Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 201 the
following new item:
``Sec. 201A. Minimum coverage requirements.''.
SEC. 102. MINIMUM PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Sections 202(a)(3), 203(b)(2), and 204(b)(4) of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1052(a)(3), 1053(b)(2), and 1054(b)(4)) are each amended by striking
``1,000 hours'' each place it appears and inserting ``750 hours''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Sections 202(a)(3)(D), 203(b)(2)(D), and 204(b)(4)(E)
(29 U.S.C. 1052(a)(3)(D), 1053(b)(2)(D), and 1054(b)(4)(E)) are
each amended by striking ``125 days'' and inserting ``94
days''.
(2) Sections 202(b)(5)(B) and 203(b)(3)(E)(ii) (29 U.S.C.
1052(b)(5)(B) and 1053(b)(3)(E)(ii)) are each amended by
striking ``501 hours'' and inserting ``376 hours''.
(3) Section 203(b)(3)(A) (29 U.S.C. 1053(b)(3)(A)) is
amended by striking ``500 hours'' and inserting ``375 hours''.
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