Includes Multiemployer Pension Plans
On Feb. 6, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing focused on improving retirement security for American workers, which identified challenges including the funding of multiemployer pension plans. The hearing comes on the heels of legislation introduced at the beginning of January, the Butch Lewis Act. The bill, first introduced in 2017, would offer loans to troubled plans through a new agency at Treasury, the Pension Rehabilitation Authority. While the proposal was well vetted during the previous Congress and during 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.

Ahead of the hearing, AGC joined with other industry stakeholders provided a letter to the committee outlining our recommendations and priorities for multiemployer pension reform. AGC reiterates our commitment to the authorization of composite plans in any multiemployer pension reform efforts and will advocate against any changes that destabilize plans or make providing retirements benefits to workers more expensive.

For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected].