[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1370 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1370

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce mandatory premiums 
to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund by certain 
          surplus amounts in the Fund, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 1995

Mr. Myers of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Armey, Mr. Thomas, 
  Mr. Shaw, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Bunning of Kentucky, Mr. 
 Houghton, Mr. Herger, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Camp, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Zimmer, 
   Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Ms. Dunn of Washington, Mr. Collins of 
  Georgia, Mr. Portman, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
  Christensen, Mrs. Kennelly, Mr. Payne of Virginia, and Mr. Pomeroy) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce mandatory premiums 
to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund by certain 
          surplus amounts in the Fund, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN REQUIRED PREMIUMS TO COMBINED FUND BY EXCESS 
              SURPLUS IN FUND.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (3) of section 9704(e) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to shortfalls and surpluses) is amended 
to read as follows:
            ``(3) Shortfalls and surpluses.--
                    ``(A) Determinations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to the 
                        provisions of clause (iv), the trustees of the 
                        Combined Fund shall, as of the close of each 
                        plan year beginning on or after October 1, 
                        1993--
                                    ``(I) determine any shortfall or 
                                surplus in any premium account 
                                established under paragraph (1) and, to 
                                the maximum extent possible, reduce or 
                                eliminate any shortfall in any such 
                                account by transferring amounts to it 
                                from any surplus in any other such 
                                account, and
                                    ``(II) determine, after any 
                                transfers under subclause (I), the 
                                aggregate shortfall or surplus in the 
                                Combined Fund, taking into account all 
                                receipts of any kind during the plan 
                                year from all sources.
                            ``(ii) Determinations made on cash flow 
                        basis.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Subject to the 
                                provisions of subclause (II) and clause 
                                (iii), any determination under clause 
                                (i) for any plan year shall be 
                                determined under the cash receipts and 
                                disbursements method of accounting, 
                                taking into account only receipts and 
                                disbursements for the plan year.
                                    ``(II) Certain prior year 
                                surpluses.--For purposes of applying 
                                subclause (I) for any plan year, any 
                                surplus determined under subparagraph 
                                (A)(i)(II) as of the close of the 
                                preceding plan year, including any 
                                portion used as provided in 
                                subparagraph (B), shall be treated as 
                                received in the Combined Fund as of the 
                                beginning of the plan year.
                            ``(iii) Disregard of transferred amounts.--
                        For purposes of this subparagraph--
                                    ``(I) no amount transferred to the 
                                Combined Fund under section 9705, and 
                                no disbursements made from such amount, 
                                shall be taken into account in making 
                                any determination under subparagraph 
                                (A) for the plan year of the transfer 
                                or any subsequent plan year, and
                                    ``(II) any amount in a premium 
                                account which was transferred to the 
                                Combined Fund under section 9705 may 
                                not be transferred to another account 
                                under clause (i)(I).
                            ``(iv) Special rule for 1994.--In the case 
                        of the plan year ending September 30, 1994, the 
                        determinations under subparagraph (A) shall be 
                        made for the period beginning February 1, 1993, 
                        and ending September 30, 1994.
                    ``(B) Treatment of surplus.--
                            ``(i) Nonpremium adjustments.--Any surplus 
                        determined under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) for 
                        any plan year shall be used first for purposes 
                        of the carryover under section 9703(b)(2)(C), 
                        but only to the extent the amount of such 
                        carryover does not exceed 10 percent of the 
                        benefits and administrative costs paid by the 
                        Combined Fund during the plan year (determined 
                        without regard to benefits paid from transfers 
                        under section 9705).
                            ``(ii) Premium adjustments.--The annual 
                        premium for any plan year for each assigned 
                        operator which is not a 1988 agreement operator 
                        shall be reduced by an amount which bears the 
                        same ratio to the surplus determined under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i)(II) for the preceding plan 
                        year (reduced as provided under clause (i)) 
                        as--
                                    ``(I) such assigned operator's 
                                applicable percentage (expressed as a 
                                whole number), bears to
                                    ``(II) the sum of the applicable 
                                percentages (expressed as whole 
                                numbers) of all assigned operators 
                                which are not 1988 agreement operators.
                        The reduction in any annual premium under this 
                        clause shall be allocated to the premium 
                        accounts established under paragraph (1) in the 
                        same manner as the annual premium would have 
                        been allocated without regard to this clause, 
                        and in the case of assigned operators which 
                        sought protection under title 11 of the United 
                        States Code before October 24, 1992, without 
                        regard to section 9706(b)(1)(A). An assigned 
                        operator which is delinquent in paying any of 
                        the premiums assessed against the operator 
                        before the date of the enactment of this 
                        sentence (or assessed at any time after such 
                        date) shall not be eligible for a reduction 
                        under this clause unless the operator satisfies 
                        the delinquency. For purposes of the preceding 
                        sentence, an assigned operator shall not be 
                        treated as delinquent with respect to any 
                        amount held in escrow, or subject to court-
                        approved security, pending final determination 
                        of assessment.
                    ``(C) Shortfalls.--If a shortfall is determined 
                under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) for any plan year, the 
                annual premium for each assigned operator shall be 
                increased by an amount equal to such assigned 
                operator's applicable percentage of the shortfall. Any 
                increase under this subparagraph shall be allocated to 
                each premium account with a shortfall.
                    ``(D) No authority for increase.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to allow expenditures for 
                health care benefits in any plan year in excess of the 
                limit under section 9703(b)(2).
                    ``(E) Special rule for 1995.--In the case of the 
                plan year beginning October 1, 1994, the adjustment 
                under subparagraph (B) shall be made effective as of 
                such date and any assigned operator which receives a 
                reduction in premiums under subparagraph (B) shall be 
                entitled to a credit to the extent it has paid, taking 
                the reduction into account, excessive premiums during 
                plan year.''
    (b) Amount of Per Beneficiary Premium.--Paragraph (2) of section 
9704(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (defining per beneficiary 
premium) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting:
                    ``(A) $2,116.67, plus'', and
            (2) by striking ``the amount determined under subparagraph 
        (A)'' in subparagraph (B) and inserting ``$2,116.67,''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Clause (ii) of section 9703(b)(2)(A) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``(without 
regard to any reduction under section 9704(e)(3)(B)(ii))'' after ``for 
the plan year''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 9704(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to information) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(2) Information to contributors.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The trustees of the Combined 
                Fund shall, within 30 days of a written request, make 
                available to any person required to make contributions 
                to the Combined Fund or their agent--
                            ``(i) all documents which reflect its 
                        financial and operational status, including 
                        documents under which it is operated, and
                            ``(ii) all documents prepared at the 
                        request of the trustees or staff of the 
                        Combined Fund which form the basis for any of 
                        its actions or reports, including the 
                        eligibility of participants in predecessor 
                        plans.
                    ``(B) Fees.--The trustees may charge reasonable 
                fees (not in excess of actual expenses) for providing 
                documents under this paragraph.''
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 9704(h) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``(h) Information.--The'' and 
inserting:
    ``(h) Information.--
            ``(1) Information to secretary.--The''.
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