Keep Our Pension Promises Act
Latest action · May 11, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
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.
- IntroducedMay 11, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Keep Our Pension Promises Act
This bill repeals the elimination of the pension anti-cutback provisions under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The anti-cutback provisions prohibit reductions in pension benefits to participants in multiemployer pension plans.
The bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), with respect to partitions of eligible multiemployer plans, to modify the procedures and allow plan sponsors to petition the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for a partition of additional financially-troubled pension plans.
The PBGC must establish a legacy fund to cover the administrative and benefit costs resulting from a partition. The Department of the Treasury must transfer amounts to the fund that are equal to the increase in revenues as a result of specified provisions of this bill that amend the Internal Revenue Code.
The provisions amend the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a limit of $1 million on the exemption of the gain from the exchange of real property in a like kind exchange, (2) prohibit the use of like kind exchanges for collectibles, and (3) limit contributions and require increased minimum distributions for individuals with certain retirement plans with balances that exceed $5 million (adjusted for inflation after 2017).
The bill amends the federal bankruptcy code to assign first claim priority to pension obligations under ERISA.
Cosponsors 33
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 11, 2017 to Jan 16, 2018; 26 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-HI | Colleen Hanabusa | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MI | Debbie Dingell | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-TX | Gene Green | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-WI | Gwen Moore | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-KY | John A. Yarmuth | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-CA | John Garamendi | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-OH | Joyce Beatty | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-TX | Marc A. Veasey | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-IN | Peter J. Visclosky | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MN | Timothy J. Walz | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | Original | May 11, 2017 |
| D-CA | Salud O. Carbajal | May 24, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | May 25, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Sep 5, 2017 | |
| D-TX | Al Green | Nov 16, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Dec 7, 2017 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Jan 16, 2018 |
Committees 3
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 May 11, 2017 |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred May 11, 2017 |
| Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee | Referred May 11, 2017 | |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred May 11, 2017 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 11, 2017Introduced in House
- May 11, 2017Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E626)
- May 11, 2017Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and 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.
- May 11, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
In the Congressional Record 3
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 E1192 | Marcy Kaptur D-OH | Sep 4, 2018 |
| House | Debate and remarks H80 | Marcy Kaptur D-OH | Jan 9, 2018 |
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E626 | Marcy Kaptur D-OH | May 11, 2017 |
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.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 82, May 11, 2017, page H4190.
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R45311 | Policy Options for Multiemployer Defined Benefit Pension Plans Archived | Report | Oct 14, 2020 |
| R45187 | Data on Multiemployer Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans Archived | Report | May 22, 2020 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1076 | Keep Our Pension Promises Act | Identical bill | May 9, 2017 |
| HR 2384 | Keeping America's Pension Promises Act | Related bill | Jun 7, 2017 |
| S 3772 | Retirement Fairness Act | Related bill | Dec 18, 2018 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify certain provisions relating to multiemployer pensions, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Keep Our Pension Promises Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 11, 2017Introduced 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.
