Pension Fairness Act of 2004
Latest action · Oct 11, 2004 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1892-1893)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 8, 2004
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Pension Fairness Act of 2004 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to limit the availability of benefits for corporate directors and executives under an employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plans in the event that any of such employer's defined pension plans are subjected to a distress termination, or to a termination where the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) takes over plan liabilities, in connection with bankruptcy reorganization or a conversion to a cash balance plan.
Sets forth a termination fairness standard for nonqualified deferred compensation plans in cases where the corporation which is plan sponsor of a defined benefit plan adopts a plan amendment which: (1) terminates an underfunded workers' pension plan; or (2) converts a workers' pension plan into a cash balance plan that cuts benefits for workers with ten or more years of service under the plan, or takes away their choice to stay in their original plan.
Disqualifies any director or executive officer of the corporation, for a five-year period after adoption of such an amendment, from: (1) accruing any amount under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan; and (2) receiving any distribution of accrued deferred compensation, if a nonqualified deferred compensation plan or amendment is established or adopted during or after the one-year period preceding the notice date of the defined benefit plan termination or conversion.
Cosponsors 20
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 8, 2004 to Nov 24, 2004; 12 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Carolyn McCarthy | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-OH | Dennis J. Kucinich | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-MA | John F. Tierney | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-PA | Joseph M. Hoeffel | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-TX | Lloyd Doggett | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-NY | Major R. Owens | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-NJ | Robert E. Andrews | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-NY | Timothy H. Bishop | Original | Oct 8, 2004 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Nov 16, 2004 | |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Nov 16, 2004 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Nov 16, 2004 | |
| D-IL | Luis V. Gutierrez | Nov 16, 2004 | |
| D-MA | Barney Frank | Nov 18, 2004 | |
| D-MN | Martin Olav Sabo | Nov 18, 2004 | |
| D-CA | Tom Lantos | Nov 18, 2004 | |
| D-IL | Lane Evans | Nov 24, 2004 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Oct 8, 2004 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Oct 8, 2004 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 11, 2004Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1892-1893)
- Oct 8, 2004Introduced in House
- Oct 8, 2004Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E1892 | George Miller D-CA | Oct 11, 2004 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to limit the availability of benefits under an employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plans in the event that any of the employer's defined pension plans are subjected to a distress or PBGC termination in connection with bankruptcy reorganization or a conversion to a cash balance plan.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Pension Fairness Act of 2004
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative procedure
- Administrative remedies
- Bankruptcy
- Commerce
- Corporate reorganizations
- Corporation directors
- Debtor and creditor
- Defined benefit pension plans
- Department of Labor
- Department of the Treasury
- Excise tax
- Executive compensation
- Executives
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Government Operations and Politics
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Pension funds
- Pension trust guaranty insurance
- Standards
- Tax penalties
- Tax-deferred compensation plans
- Taxation
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 8, 2004Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.