[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2321 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2321

To amend titles I and IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
 of 1974 to improve disclosure of the funding status of pension plans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2005

    Mr. Doggett (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. 
Abercrombie, Mr. Baca, Mr. Baird, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Bishop of New York, 
   Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Ms. Carson, Mr. 
Conyers, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Davis of California, Ms. DeLauro, 
   Mr. Evans, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Honda, Mr. Jackson 
 of Illinois, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. 
    Kildee, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Ms. Lee, Mrs. McCarthy, Ms. 
   McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. McDermott, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. 
 Nadler, Mr. Owens, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. 
Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Solis, 
Mr. Stark, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, 
   Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Watson, Mr. Waxman, Ms. Woolsey, and Mr. Wu) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles I and IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
 of 1974 to improve disclosure of the funding status of pension plans.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pension Security Disclosure Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION 
              REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED TO THE PBGC REGARDING THE ASSETS 
              AND LIABILITIES OF CERTAIN UNDERFUNDED SINGLE-EMPLOYER 
              PLANS.

    (a) Electronic Format.--Section 4010(a) of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1310(a)) is amended by adding, 
after and below paragraph (2), the following:
``Material provided to the corporation pursuant to this section shall 
be in an electronic format which accommodates display on the Internet, 
in accordance with regulations of the corporation.''.
    (b) Public Disclosure.--Section 4010(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1310(c)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Public Disclosure of Information.--
            ``(1) Public information.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (4), the contents of records, documents, and other information 
        filed with the corporation pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 
        public information and the corporation shall make any such 
        information available for inspection in the principal office of 
        the corporation and shall, upon written request of any 
        participant or beneficiary, furnish to such participant or 
        beneficiary a written copy of any such information. The 
        corporation may by regulation provide for a reasonable charge 
        to cover the cost of furnishing any such copy of such 
        information.
            ``(2) Disclosure on the internet and other media.--The 
        corporation shall provide by regulation for timely display of 
        the contents of records, documents, and other information filed 
        with the corporation in connection with the plan pursuant to 
        subsection (a) on a website maintained by the corporation on 
        the Internet and other appropriate media.
            ``(3) Direct provision of information to participants and 
        beneficiaries.--Within 30 days after material is provided to 
        the corporation pursuant to subsection (a) with respect to a 
        plan, in accordance with regulations which shall be prescribed 
        by the corporation, the plan administrator shall provide a 
        written summary of such material to each participant and 
        beneficiary under the plan and shall include with such summary 
        notification that such material is available on the website 
        referred to in paragraph (2).
            ``(4) Exception for confidential information.--Paragraphs 
        (1), (2), and (3) shall not apply with respect to information 
        described in subsection (a) which the corporation has 
        identified by regulation as confidential information.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
with respect to information provided to the Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation pursuant to section 4010 of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 with respect to reporting periods ending on or 
after December 31, 2005.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ANNUAL REPORTS.

    (a) Filing After 275 Days After Plan Year Only in Cases of 
Hardship.--Section 104(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1024(a)(1)) is amended by inserting after the 
first sentence the following new sentence: ``In the case of a pension 
plan, the Secretary may extend the deadline for filing the annual 
report for any plan year past 275 days after the close of the plan year 
only on a case by case basis and only in cases of hardship, in 
accordance with regulations which shall be prescribed by the 
Secretary.''.
    (b) Actuarial Valuations as of the End of the Plan Year.--Section 
103 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1023) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4)(A), by inserting after the first 
        sentence the following new sentence: ``Actuarial valuations 
        included in the actuarial statement applicable to the plan year 
        for which the annual report is filed shall be determined as of 
        the last date of such plan year.''; and
            (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``years,'' and all 
        that follows and inserting ``years.''.
    (c) Internet Display of Information.--Section 104(b) of such Act 
(29 U.S.C. 1024(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Identification and basic plan information and actuarial 
information included in the annual report for any plan year shall be 
filed with the Secretary in an electronic format which accommodates 
display on the Internet, in accordance with regulations which shall be 
prescribed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall provide for display of 
such information included in the annual report, within 90 days after 
the date of the filing of the annual report, on a website maintained by 
the Secretary on the Internet and other appropriate media. Such 
information shall also be displayed on any website maintained by the 
plan sponsor (or by the plan administrator on behalf of the plan 
sponsor) on the Internet, in accordance with regulations which shall be 
prescribed by the Secretary.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to annual reports filed in connecton with plan years 
ending with or after December 31, 2005.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUMMARY ANNUAL REPORTS.

    (a) Issuance of Summary Annual Report Within 15 Days After Filing 
of Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--Section 104(b)(3) of the Employee 
        Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1024(b)(3)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``Within 210 days after the close 
                of the fiscal year of the plan,'' and inserting 
                ``Within 15 days after the date of the filing of the 
                annual report for a plan year of the plan,''; and
                    (B) by striking ``such fiscal year'' and inserting 
                ``such plan year''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply with respect to annual reports filed after December 
        31, 2005.
    (b) Disclosure of Plan Assets and Liabilities and Notification of 
Availability of Annual Report on the Internet.--
            (1) In general.--Section 104(b)(3) of such Act (as amended 
        by subsection (a)) is amended further--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) The material provided pursuant to subparagraph (A) to 
summarize the latest annual report shall be written in a manner 
calculated to be understood by the average plan participant and shall 
set forth the following information:
            ``(i) the total assets and liabilities of the plan for the 
        plan year for which the latest annual report was filed and for 
        each of the 2 preceding plan years, as reported in the annual 
        report for each such plan year under this section; and
            ``(ii) notification that identification and basic plan 
        information and actuarial information contained in the latest 
        annual report are available on the website of the Department of 
        Labor and a website maintained by the plan sponsor (or by the 
        plan administrator on behalf of the plan sponsor).''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply with respect to summary annual reports issued after 
        1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Simplified Reporting Rules for Small Plans.--Section 104(b)(3) 
of such Act (as amended by subsections (a) and (b)) is amended further 
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(C) The Secretary may by regulation prescribe simplified 
reporting requirements, with respect to material required to be 
furnished under this paragraph, for any pension plan which covers less 
than 100 participants.''.
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