Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 554 (ih) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow rollover contributions to individual retirement plans from deferred compensation plans maintained by States and local governments and to allow State and local governments to maintain 401(k)...H.R. 554 (ih) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow rollover contributions to individual retirement plans from deferred compensation plans maintained by States and local governments and to allow State and local governments to maintain 401(k)...
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5549
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve
the retirement security of American families.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 25, 2000
Mr. Andrews (for himself, Mr. Clay, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Owens, Mr. Payne,
Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Mr. Fattah, Mr.
Tierney, Mr. Kind, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Ford, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Holt)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Armed
Services, and Government Reform, 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 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 2000''.
(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. Model small employer group pension plan.
Sec. 105. 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. Modifications 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. Interest on amounts paid to make up for certain civil service
annuity benefits wrongfully denied.
Sec. 211. Amendments relating to effective date provision of the Civil
Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of
1984.
TITLE III--SIMPLIFIED INVESTMENT STANDARDS
Sec. 301. Exemption from prohibited transaction rules for emergent
transactions.
Sec. 302. Alternative method for publishing the pendency of prohibited
transaction exemptions.
Sec. 303. Employer protection from liability for the provision of
investment advice.
Sec. 304. Participation of participants in trusteeship of defined
contribution plans.
Sec. 305. Removal of $500,000 cap on bonding requirement.
Sec. 306. Disclosure regarding investments and voting of proxies.
Sec. 307. Diversification in defined contribution plan investments.
Sec. 308. Diversification of investments under employee stock ownership
plans by participants and beneficiaries
over 55 years of age.
TITLE IV--IMPROVEMENTS IN PENSION INFORMATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 401. Periodic pension benefit statements.
Sec. 402. Benefit Statements required to include information on
investment performance.
Sec. 403. Disclosures to Secretary of Labor relating to plan
termination and relating to plan sponsors
after acquisition or merger of plans.
Sec. 404. 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. 405. Specific information regarding multiemployer plans included
in annual report.
Sec. 406. Limited scope audits.
Sec. 407. Reporting and enforcement requirements for employee benefit
plans.
Sec. 408. Study of pension trends and characteristics.
Sec. 409. Early resolution program for pension benefit claims.
Sec. 410. De novo review of benefit determinations.
Sec. 411. Allowable relief.
Sec. 412. Civil penalty for breach of fiduciary responsibility.
Sec. 413. Assessment by Secretary of Labor of penalties for failures to
meet disclosure requirements.
Sec. 414. Missing participants.
Sec. 415. Increase in guaranteed benefit level for multiemployer plans.
TITLE V--IMPROVED PENSION PROTECTIONS FOR THE CHANGING WORKFORCE
Sec. 501. Loans from retirement plans for health insurance and job
training expenses.
Sec. 502. Immediate distributions permitted only if distribution rolled
to a qualified plan.
Sec. 503. Prompt distribution from defined contribution plans upon
termination of participant's covered
employment.
Sec. 504. Extended period for recoupment of overpayments.
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.--For purposes of this
section, there shall be excluded from consideration--
``(1) 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 one
or more employers, if there is evidence that retirement
benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining between such
employee representatives and such employer or employers,
``(2) in the case of a trust 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 one or more employers, all employees not covered by
such agreement, and
``(3) 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).
Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to coverage of employees
under a plan pursuant to an agreement under such paragraph. Paragraph
(2) shall not apply in the case of a plan which provides 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) Employer May Not Request Employee to Waive Rights.--Section 203
of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1053) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(f) An employer may not request an employee to waive any right of
coverage under, or participation in, any pension plan which is granted
by this title.''
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''.
SEC. 103. FASTER VESTING OF BENEFITS UNDER DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS.
Paragraph (2) of section 203(a) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1053(a)) is amended by striking
subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following:
``(A) A plan satisfies the requirements of this
subparagraph if an employee has a nonforfeitable right
to 100 percent of the employee's accrued benefit
derived from employer contributions--
``(i) in the case of a defined benefit
plan, as of completion by the employee of at
least 5 years of service, or
``(ii) in the case of a defined
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