Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2005
Latest action · Apr 18, 2005 Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
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.
- IntroducedMar 15, 2005
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide emergency protections for retiree health benefits.
Prohibits group health plans from making post-retirement reductions of retiree health benefits.
Requires group health plans to adopt provisions barring post-retirement reductions in retiree health benefits.
Requires group health plans to restore benefits reduced after retirement. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to waive or vary such requirements, if a plan sponsor applies for such exemption, upon finding that compliance would: (1) be adverse to the interests of plan participants in the aggregate; (2) not be administratively feasible; and (3) cause substantial business hardship to the sponsor.
Establishes the Emergency Retiree Health Loan Guarantee Program and its Board. Authorizes the Program, through its Board, to guarantee loans provided by private banking and investment institutions to eligible plan sponsors to assist them in meeting obligations under this Act to restore benefits reduced after retirement.
Authorizes the Secretary to assess civil penalties for violations of this Act.
Cosponsors 79
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 17, 2005 to Jul 28, 2006.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Mar 17, 2005 | |
| D-CA | George Miller | Mar 17, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Henry A. Waxman | Mar 17, 2005 | |
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Mar 17, 2005 | |
| D-MA | John W. Olver | Mar 17, 2005 | |
| D-NC | Mike McIntyre | Apr 6, 2005 | |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Apr 6, 2005 | |
| D-OR | Darlene Hooley | Apr 12, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Fortney Pete Stark | Apr 12, 2005 | |
| D-NJ | Frank Pallone, Jr. | Apr 26, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Jose E. Serrano | Apr 26, 2005 | |
| D-TX | Lloyd Doggett | Apr 26, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Major R. Owens | Apr 26, 2005 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Apr 26, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Bob Filner | May 4, 2005 | |
| D-MI | Dale E. Kildee | May 4, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | May 4, 2005 | |
| D-NJ | Robert E. Andrews | May 4, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Timothy H. Bishop | May 4, 2005 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Anthony D. Weiner | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-MA | Barney Frank | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn McCarthy | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-OH | Dennis J. Kucinich | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-OR | Peter A. DeFazio | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-FL | Robert Wexler | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-PA | Tim Holden | May 11, 2005 | |
| D-MI | Carolyn C. Kilpatrick | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Gary L. Ackerman | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Michael R. McNulty | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-MA | Stephen F. Lynch | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | May 17, 2005 | |
| D-MI | John D. Dingell | Jun 8, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Lynn C. Woolsey | Jun 8, 2005 | |
| D-RI | Patrick J. Kennedy | Jun 16, 2005 | |
| D-VA | James P. Moran | Jul 29, 2005 | |
| D-MA | Martin T. Meehan | Jul 29, 2005 | |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Jul 29, 2005 | |
| D-TX | Gene Green | Sep 6, 2005 | |
| D-NJ | Steven R. Rothman | Sep 6, 2005 | |
| D-MI | Bart Stupak | Sep 27, 2005 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Oct 6, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Oct 6, 2005 | |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-VI | Donna M. Christensen | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Eliot L. Engel | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-MN | James L. Oberstar | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Maurice D. Hinchey | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-HI | Neil Abercrombie | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-OH | Ted Strickland | Oct 26, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Steve Israel | Oct 27, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Tom Lantos | Oct 27, 2005 | |
| D-IL | Rahm Emanuel | Nov 17, 2005 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Dec 7, 2005 | |
| D-MA | Michael E. Capuano | Dec 7, 2005 | |
| D-ME | Michael H. Michaud | Dec 7, 2005 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Dec 7, 2005 | |
| D-MA | Bill Delahunt | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-MD | Albert Russell Wynn | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-PA | John P. Murtha | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-ME | Thomas H. Allen | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Jul 11, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-NJ | Bill Pascrell, Jr. | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-MD | C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn B. Maloney | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-MD | Elijah E. Cummings | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Hilda L. Solis | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Howard L. Berman | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Jul 28, 2006 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Jul 28, 2006 |
Committees 1
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 Mar 15, 2005 |
| Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee | Referred Apr 18, 2005 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 18, 2005Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
- Mar 15, 2005Introduced in House
- Mar 15, 2005Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 109-12 | CHALLENGES TO EMPLOYER EFFORTS TO PRESERVE RETIREE HEALTH CARE BENEFITS44 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | Apr 28, 2005 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RS22400 | Criminal Money Laundering Legislation in the 109th Congress Archived | Report | Dec 11, 2006 |
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 to provide emergency protection for retiree health benefits.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2005
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Bank loans
- Coinsurance
- Congress
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Economics and Public Finance
- Executive reorganization
- Federally-guaranteed loans
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Government Operations and Politics
- Health
- Health insurance
- Health insurance continuation
- Insurance premiums
- Law
- Medical economics
- Patients' rights
- Retiree health benefits
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 15, 2005Introduced 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.