[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 323 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 323

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
   to provide for joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2003

Mr. Visclosky (for himself, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Oberstar, and Mr. 
   Stupak) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
   to provide for joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans.

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

SECTION 1. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO TRUSTEESHIP OF SINGLE-EMPLOYER 
              PLANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 403(a) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1103(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
            (2) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) The assets of a pension plan which is a single-employer 
plan shall be held in trust by a joint board of trustees, which shall 
consist of two or more trustees representing on an equal basis the 
interests of the employer or employers maintaining the plan and the 
interests of the participants and their beneficiaries.
    ``(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), in any case in which 
the plan is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining 
agreements between one or more employee organizations and one or more 
employers, the trustees representing the interests of the participants 
and their beneficiaries pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 
designated by such employee organizations.
    ``(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to a plan described 
in such clause if the employee organization (or all employee 
organizations, if more than one) referred to in such clause file with 
the Secretary, in such form and manner as shall be prescribed in 
regulations of the Secretary, a written waiver of their rights under 
clause (i).
    ``(iii) In any case in which clause (i) does not apply with respect 
to a pension plan which is a single-employer plan because the plan is 
not described in clause (i) or because of a waiver filed pursuant to 
clause (ii), the trustee or trustees representing the interests of the 
participants and their beneficiaries shall consist of one or more 
participants under the plan elected to serve as such in accordance with 
this clause. The Secretary shall provide by regulation for a secret 
ballot of the participants under the plan for purposes of such 
election, and for certification of the results thereof to the 
participants (and any employee organization referred to in clause (ii)) 
and to the employer.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 403(a)(1) of such Act (as 
redesignated under subsection (a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Such trustee or trustees'' and inserting 
        ``Except as provided in paragraph (2), such trustee or 
        trustees'';
            (2) by striking ``fiduciary, and upon acceptance'' and 
        inserting ``fiduciary. Upon acceptance''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``the plan'' the first place it appears and inserting ``in the 
        case of a plan other than a pension plan which is a single-
        employer plan, the plan''.

SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 1 shall apply with respect to plan 
years beginning after 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe the initial regulations 
necessary to carry out the provisions of such amendments not later than 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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