[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3544-S3545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PENSION COVERAGE AND PORTABILITY ACT

 Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, most people my age have known the 
heartache of having to watch their parents grow old. It is a sad day in 
a person's life when they see their father get his first gray hair. Or 
the day you notice lines in your mother's face where previously, there 
were none.
  This aging process is made worse by the scary and very real 
possibility that too many people who will become senior citizens in the 
next several years are not at all prepared for the transition from work 
to retirement.
  To be honest, it isn't our parents who we need to worry about so 
much. They survived the Depression. They know what it takes to get by 
during the lean years--it takes planning and saving. Putting money 
aside, when it might be easier to spend it in the moment.
  Those are the values that our parents live by. They are the values we 
would do well to heed. And even better to teach those who will follow 
us.
  We as a nation have lost our imperative to save. Personal savings 
rates have dropped to one-half of one percent of our Gross Domestic 
Product, the lowest since 1933.
  Fifty-one million Americans in our nation's workforce have no pension 
coverage. But statistics like those don't tell the whole story. They 
don't do justice to the hardscrabble struggles

[[Page S3545]]

that real people go through every day. Struggles that involve agonizing 
questions like: ``Should I eat today or take my medication?'' or ``Will 
I be able to heat my house this winter?''
  Make no mistake, our nation's lack of saving for retirement is a 
tragedy in the making.
  That is why I am so proud to join my colleagues in introducing this 
legislation.
  A bill that will make it easier for Americans to put money aside, and 
a bill that will help move pension issues to the forefront of 
Americans' minds. A bill that will:
  Expand coverage for small businesses because they have a harder time 
affording health care and retirement plans;
  Enhance pension fairness for women because they fall into categories 
that have a harder time saving;
  Increase the portability of pension plans so that when you change 
jobs you don't have to worry about where your savings will go;
  Strengthen pension security and enforcement so you can rest easy at 
night, knowing your money is safe;
  Reduce red tape so it's easier for employers to give their workers 
retirement options;
  And encourage retirement education so that husbands and wives, 
parents and children, talk to each other-- make plans for their future. 
And know what to expect tomorrow and down the road.
  One aspect of the bill I am particularly proud of are the small 
business provisions. Thirty-eight million of the people in this country 
who do not have a pension plan work at small businesses. Eighty percent 
of all small business employees have no pension coverage.
  In my state of Montana, more than 95 percent of our businesses are 
small businesses. And almost 9 out of 10 offer no pension plans. We 
cannot let these hard-working Americans down.
  Currently, most small businesses can't afford pension plans. They 
would like to, but they just can't make ends meet.
  Our bill makes it a smart business decision for small business owners 
to offer retirement plans.
  I have made it my priority to work with members of the small business 
community, both back in Montana and nationally, to identify legislative 
solutions that will most readily enable small businesses to offer 
pension plans to their employees. While this bill does not include 
every recommendation we received, it does represent a collection of 
high-priority proposals which we believe could be supported by a bi-
partisan majority of Congress.
  The major provisions in this bill which would help small businesses 
start and maintain pension plans include the following:
  To help make pension plans more affordable we have included two new 
tax credits: one to help defray start-up costs and the other to defray 
the cost of employer contributions to pension plans;
  In addition, we provide for the elimination of some fees.
  To address the problems the small business community has identified 
as a major impediment to establishing pension plans, we make 
significant changes in the top-heavy rules that limit employer 
contributions to plans.
  To address concerns of our smallest businesses, who want to provide 
pensions but can only afford `start-up' plans at first, we provide 
increases in income limits that apply to SIMPLE pension plans, along 
with a new, salary-reduction SIMPLE plan;
  And for those employers that want to provide the security of a 
defined benefit plan for their employees but cannot because of the 
increased regulatory burden, we create a simplified defined benefit 
plan for small business.
  These provisions are designed to address the problems of cost and 
complexity that are a barrier to so many small businesses. They will 
help small employers establish a pattern of saving for themselves and 
their employees.
  Mr. President, I hope the Pension Coverage and Portability Act will 
spearhead a national debate on how to improve employer-provided 
pensions in this country.
  This debate is essential if we are to achieve our goal of making 
America in the next century, not only strong as a nation, but strong as 
a community of individuals confident in the security of their financial 
futures.
  This is a good, bi-partisan bill. It takes the positive steps we as a 
nation need to put our future in safe hands.
  I am eager for the coming debate on this bill.
  I hope it sparks a debate in the coffee shops and kitchen tables all 
across the country. Working together, and with this bill, we can turn a 
nation of spenders, into a nation of savers.

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