Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021
Latest action · Mar 2, 2021 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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 2, 2021
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021
This bill modifies the funding rules and provides financial assistance for certain pension plans that are underfunded or insolvent.
First, the bill expands the authority of, and provides funding for, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to provide special partition assistance to a multiemployer pension plan that is insolvent or at risk of insolvency. The bill expands eligibility for partition assistance, provides funding for a plan to reach a projected funded ratio of 80% over a 30-year period, and does not require a plan to repay such assistance.
The bill further permits a multiemployer pension plan to elect to retain its funding zone status from the previous year for either (1) the first plan year beginning during the period from March 1, 2020, through February 28, 2021; or (2) the next succeeding plan year, as designated by the plan sponsor. A plan may also extend by five years the funding improvement or rehabilitation period if the plan is designated as in endangered or critical status for a plan year beginning in 2020 or 2021. A plan in critical and declining status may not suspend payment of plan benefits.
Additionally, the bill adjusts the minimum funding standards for a multiemployer pension plan to account for investment losses and other losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and modifies the PBGC guarantee formula to increase the maximum potential benefits under a multiemployer pension plan.
Cosponsors 42
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 2, 2021 to Mar 3, 2021, with 41 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Alex Padilla | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| I-ME | Angus S. King Jr. | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-NM | Ben Ray Luján | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Mar 2, 2021 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 2, 2021Introduced in Senate
- Mar 2, 2021Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 409 | Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 | Related bill | Jan 21, 2021 |
| HR 423 | Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 | Related bill | Jan 21, 2021 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Accounting and auditing
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Appropriations
- Business records
- Congressional oversight
- Employee benefits and pensions
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Government trust funds
- Inflation and prices
- Labor and Employment
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
- Wages and earnings
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 2, 2021Introduced in Senate
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.