AGC urges that Composite Plans Must Be Part of the Solution

On Mar. 7, the House Committee on Education and Labor committee held a hearing focused on the cost of inaction of multiemployer pension crisis and why Congress must address it. Ahead of the hearing, AGC—along with other industry stakeholders—reiterated its commitment to the authorization of composite plans in any multiemployer pension reform effort.  In addition, AGC will continue to advocate against any changes that destabilize plans or make providing retirements benefits to workers more expensive.

The hearing follows an earlier hearing held this year by the House Ways and Means Committee and the introduction of the Butch Lewis Act. That bill, first introduced in 2017, would offer loans to troubled plans through a new agency at the Department of Treasury, called the Pension Rehabilitation Authority. While the proposal was well-vetted during the previous Congress and by the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, it appears as though congressional leaders are shifting their interest from a loan proposal to one that provides assistance to troubled plans by giving the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) greater partitioning authority.

For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.