[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9900-S9901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Akaka):
  S. 3922. A bill to clarify the status of the Young Woman's Christian 
Association Retirement Fund as a defined contribution plan for certain 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that will 
clarify the legal status of the Young Women's Christian Association's 
Retirement Fund.

[[Page S9901]]

  The YWCA Retirement Fund is one of the oldest pension plans serving 
the retirement needs of women. This bill will help protect the 
retirement security of thousands of YWCA employees nationwide who serve 
well over a million users.
  Whether it is providing day care for working mothers, keeping a 
battered women's shelter open, or meeting the other pressing needs of 
women in our communities, the YWCA has a long tradition of service. 
Those who work at our local YWCAs deserve to know that their retirement 
plan is secure.
  Today, the YWCA Retirement Fund is a unique pension program. First, 
approximately 90 percent of its participants are women. Second, it is a 
multiple employer pension plan--one that relies on 300 local YWCAs to 
make funding contributions. And lastly, since it was established in 
1924, the pension plan's structure has remained generally unchanged--it 
is partially a defined benefit plan, and partially a defined 
contribution plan.
  Recently, some employers have transformed their traditional defined 
benefit pension plans into various types of ``hybrid'' plans, and in 
the process, some have reduced the rate at which benefits accrue for 
their older workers. Older workers have successfully challenged some of 
these arrangements as age discriminatory. During its more than 80-year 
history, the YWCA Retirement Fund has never treated any worker 
differently based on age or longevity of employment. Most of the 
controversy surrounding these plans focuses on how employers treat 
certain participants when they convert their pre-existing pension 
plans. But the YWCA pension program never converted--its basic 
structure has remained the same since it was established 1924.
  The success of some of these lawsuits has raised questions about 
whether the YWCA pension plan could be found to be age discriminatory 
merely on the basis of its design. This threat is particularly acute 
given the fact that the YWCA Retirement Fund is a multiple employer 
pension plan--a plan that relies on contributions from each local YWCA. 
This enormous potential liability would be shared jointly by all local 
YWCAs. Under current law, even the mere threat of lawsuit could cause 
local YWCAs to end their participation in this plan.
  If enacted, this legislation would merely classify the YWCA 
retirement plan as a defined contribution plan only for the purpose of 
testing for age discrimination--it would continue to protect 
participants from being treated differently on the basis of age while 
eliminating the potential crippling legal threat.
  Legislation was enacted in 2004--Public Law 108-476--to clarify the 
legal status of the YMCA pension plan, a plan that is similar to the 
YWCA plan. Congress was right to protect the YMCA pension plan then and 
now it is time to protect the pension plan serving our YWCAs.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3922

       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 ``YWCA Retirement Plan 
     Preservation Act of 2006''.

     SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF AGE DISCRIMINATION RULES.

       (a) In General.--A pension plan described in subsection (b) 
     shall be treated as a defined contribution plan for purposes 
     of sections 204(b)(1)(H) and 204(b)(2) of the Employee 
     Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
     1054(b)(1)(H) and 1054(b)(2)) and section 4(i)(1) of the Age 
     Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 
     623(i)(1)).
       (b) Pension Plan Described.--A pension plan described in 
     this subsection is the plan subject to title IV of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 maintained by 
     the Young Women's Christian Association Retirement Fund, a 
     corporation created by an Act of the State of New York which 
     became law on April 12, 1924.
       (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall apply in the case 
     of any civil action brought on or after September 21, 2006, 
     alleging a violation occurring before June 29, 2005, of 
     section 204(b)(1)(H) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(1)(H)), section 
     4(i)(1) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 
     (29 U.S.C. 623(i)(1)), or both, with respect to the plan 
     described in subsection (b).
                                 ______