House and Senate Pass Pension Relief Bill, President Expected to Sign

The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed by unanimous consent H.R. 7327 and the Senate followed today, the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, to provide immediate, short-term relief for single- and multi-employer pension plans whose assets have lost value as a result of the recent market contraction.  The President is expect to sign the bill which would provide an optional one-year freeze on changes in zone status (i.e., “green,” “yellow,” “red”) and the addition of three years to the funding improvement and rehabilitation periods for plans in the “yellow” or “red” zone in 2008 and 2009.  Further, the bill addresses many technical corrections to the 2006 Pension Protection Act sought by multi-employer plan stakeholders.  Supporters of the bill in the Senate are working to clear the bill for Senate consideration today.  AGC has been working with a broad coalition of single- and multi-pension plan stakeholders to enact emergency relief prior to the end of the year and its members and chapters have sent hundreds of letter to elected officials through AGC’s Legislative Action Center.