[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S15123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CHURCH PLAN PARITY AND ENTANGLEMENT PREVENTION ACT OF 1999

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               SESSIONS (AND JEFFORDS) AMENDMENT NO. 2788

  Ms. COLLINS (for Mr. Sessions (for himself and Mr. Jeffords)) 
proposed an amendment to the bill (S. 1309) to amend title I of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide for the 
preemption of State law in certain cases relating to certain church 
plans; as follows:

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is only to clarify the application 
     to a church plan that is a welfare plan of State insurance 
     laws that require or solely relate to licensing, solvency, 
     insolvency, or the status of such plan as a single employer 
     plan.

     SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF CHURCH WELFARE PLAN STATUS UNDER 
                   STATE INSURANCE LAW.

       (a) In General.--For purposes of determining the status of 
     a church plan that is a welfare plan under provisions of a 
     State insurance law described in subsection (b), such a 
     church plan (and any trust under such plan) shall be deemed 
     to be a plan sponsored by a single employer that reimburses 
     costs from general church assets, or purchases insurance 
     coverage with general church assets, or both.
       (b) State Insurance Law.--A State insurance law described 
     in this subsection is a law that--
       (1) requires a church plan, or an organization described in 
     section 414(e)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
     section 3(33)(C)(i) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(33)(C)(i)) to the extent 
     that it is administering or funding such a plan, to be 
     licensed; or
       (2) relates solely to the solvency or insolvency of a 
     church plan (including participation in State guaranty funds 
     and associations).
       (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
       (1) Church plan.--The term ``church plan'' has the meaning 
     given such term by section 414(e) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 and section 3(33) of the Employee Retirement 
     Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(33)).
       (2) Reimburses costs from general church assets.--The term 
     ``reimburses costs from general church assets'' means 
     engaging in an activity that is not the spreading of risk 
     solely for the purposes of the provisions of State insurance 
     laws described in subsection (b).
       (3) Welfare plan.--The term ``welfare plan''--
       (A) means any church plan to the extent that such plan 
     provides medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or 
     benefits in the event of sickness, accident, disability, 
     death or unemployment, or vacation benefits, apprenticeship 
     or other training programs, or day care centers, scholarship 
     funds, or prepaid legal services; and
       (B) does not include any entity, such as a health insurance 
     issuer described in section 9832(b)(2) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 or a health maintenance organization 
     described in section 9832(b)(3) of such Code, or any other 
     organization that does business with the church plan or 
     organization sponsoring or maintaining such a plan.
       (d) Enforcement Authority.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of this section, for purposes of enforcing 
     provisions of State insurance laws that apply to a church 
     plan that is a welfare plan, the church plan shall be subject 
     to State enforcement as if the church plan were an insurer 
     licensed by the State.
       (e) Application of Section.--Except as provided in 
     subsection (d), the application of this section is limited to 
     determining the status of a church plan that is a welfare 
     plan under the provisions of State insurance laws described 
     in subsection (b). This section shall not otherwise be 
     construed to recharacterize the status, or modify or affect 
     the rights, of any plan participant or beneficiary, including 
     participants or beneficiaries who make plan contributions.

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