Archives: Resources
Multiemployer pension plans projected to be in “critical and declining” status
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 allows the trustees of certain multiemployer pension plans to reduce pensions, including the benefits of retirees. Read a summary of the cutback provisions of the law here. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has compiled a list of 100 plans that may be permitted to cut benefits […]
Tax Loopholes That Would Be Closed by the Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015
The Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015 (S. 1631 and H.R. 2844) proposes to close two tax loopholes that primarily benefit wealthy individuals and their estates. The tax revenue saved by modifying “like-kind exchange” and “minority valuation discount” rules would offset the cost of a new Legacy Fund within the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, […]
How the Keep Our Pension Promises Act Would Save the Central States Pension Fund
The Keep Our Pension Promises Act would make it possible for the largest of the severely underfunded multiemployer pension plans, the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF), to continue to pay promised benefits to its 205,000 retirees. This is because money that would be transferred by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to the plan each […]
Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015
The Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015 repeals the “benefit suspension” provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) enacted at the end of the last Congress. Those provisions allow the trustees of certain financially-troubled multiemployer pension plans to reduce the benefits of retirees and their widows and widowers. The Keep Our […]
Why the Keep Our Pension Promises Act Must Be Passed
Updated: September 9, 2015 On June 18, 2015, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) introduced the Keep Our Pension Promises Act of 2015 into the U.S. Congress to stop benefit cutbacks for retirees in certain underfunded multiemployer plans. These cuts were authorized by the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. In the Senate, […]
Summary of the pension cutback provisions in the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014
In December 2014, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the 2015 Omnibus spending bill, which included provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 that allow trustees of certain multiemployer plans to cut retirees’ pensions. Below is a summary of these provisions. Related: Read our fact sheet on multiemployer plan funding. See a […]
Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton
The Pension Rights Center filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court asking the Court to affirm decisions by three Courts of Appeals that had ruled that only pension plans established by churches are exempt from the requirements of the federal private pension law. On June 5, 2017, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the Supreme Court […]
Investment Advisers: Who Are They and Why Does It Matter?
The universe of financial advisers can be very confusing. People who give financial advice use many different labels, including investment adviser investment manager asset manager broker financial planner financial consultant financial adviser certified financial planner With such a variety of titles, it can be difficult to know which legal standards – if any – apply […]
The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act
On January 4, 2015, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Public Act 098-1150). Introduced as S.B. 2758 by Illinois Senator Daniel Biss, the Act passed the State legislature in 2014. With the Governor’s signature, Illinois becomes the first state to fully enact legislation requiring that private-sector employers […]
Cash Balance Plans
A cash balance plan is a pension plan that has certain features of a 401(k) plan. A number of companies have converted their traditional pension plans into cash balance plans. This fact sheet describes cash balance plans and outlines the differences between a cash balance plan and a traditional pension plan, and between a cash […]
Tibble v. Edison
The Pension Rights Center filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in Tibble v. Edison. (12/09/2014) On May 18, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a decision in favor of the plaintiffs.
Pension Freezes
See our list of companies that have frozen or made significant changes to their pension plans. What does it mean to “freeze” a pension plan? When a company freezes its pension plan, some or all of the employees covered by the plan, stop earning some or all the benefits from the point of the freeze […]
