HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Aug 3, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) praised Senate passage of the bipartisan Pension Protection Act (H.R. 4), which reforms outdated worker pension laws and protects the retirement benefits of American workers and retirees.  The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 93-5; it passed the House last Friday.  The bill is now ready for President Bush’s signature.  Boehner issued the following statement:

“These pension reforms will help protect the retirement security of American workers and ensure their hard-earned pension benefits are there for them when they retire.  After seven years of hard work to modernize our outdated pension laws, I’m pleased our work will finally pay dividends for workers who are counting on their pension benefits in their retirement.  This bill will not only safeguard the retirement security of millions of working families, it will also protect the interests of taxpayers who could be on the hook for a multibillion dollar bailout of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

“Providing high-quality, individualized investment advice is one of the most important pension protections we can provide.  I believe the proposal included in this bill will make a real difference for workers who have been denied access to this type of quality advice for years.  The Enron case taught us that while workers are gaining unprecedented control over their retirement savings, many of them are receiving precious little guidance about how to make the most of it.

“Making complex financial decisions can be a daunting process for workers, particularly when it comes to navigating the maze of investment options available today.  This bill gives American workers the type of meaningful, personally-tailored investment advice that will help them make the most of their retirement future.”

• Tightening funding requirements so employers make more cash contributions to their worker pension funds;
  
• Closing loopholes that allow underfunded plans to skip making cash pension payments;
  
• Prohibiting employers and union leaders from digging the hole even deeper by promising extra benefits if their pension plan is significantly underfunded;
  
• Strengthening disclosure to give workers and retirees more information about the status of their pension plan;
  
• Protecting multiemployer pension plans for workers and their employers;
  
• Restricting “golden parachute” executive compensation arrangements while the retirement security of rank-and-file workers remains at risk;
  
• Giving workers new access to face-to-face, personally-tailored professional investment advice;
  
• Provide legal certainty for hybrid pension plans so employers can continue to offer these pension benefits to their workers; and
  
• Shielding taxpayers from a possible multi-billion dollar taxpayer bailout of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.