[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5091-S5092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. Landrieu):
  S. 1206. A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 
1967 to clarify the age discrimination rules applicable to the pension 
plan maintained by the Young Woman's Christian Association Retirement 
Fund; 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.
  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 in 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

[[Page S5092]]

YWCA. This enormous potential liability would be shared jointly by all 
local YWCAs. Under current law, even the mere threat of a lawsuit could 
cause local YWCAs to end their participation in this plan.
  This legislation merely delineates many of the unique characteristics 
of the YWCA pension plan and clarifies what age discrimination standard 
applies to the plan with respect to any future legal claim. This bill 
protects participants from being treated differently on the basis of 
age, while eliminating the potential crippling legal threat that 
currently exists.
  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. 1206

       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 ``Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Clarification Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan is 
     a multiple employer plan (subject to the requirements of 
     section 210 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
     1974) which is maintained by a corporation created by State 
     law prior to the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 and the Age Discrimination in Employment 
     Act of 1967 and whose primary purpose is the maintenance of 
     retirement programs.
       (2) No applicable plan amendment, as defined in clause (v) 
     of section 204(b)(5)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5)(B)(v)) (added by 
     section 701(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public 
     Law 109-280; 120 Stat. 982)) and clause (v) of section 
     4(i)(10)(B) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 
     1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(i)(10)(B)(v)) (added by section 701(c) of 
     the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280; 120 
     Stat. 986)), or any applicable plan amendment causing a 
     participant's accrued benefit to be less than the amount 
     described in clause (iii) of such section 204(b)(5)(B) or 
     clause (iii) of such section 4(i)(10)(B), has ever been made 
     to the Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan.
       (3) Under the terms of the Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan, as in effect as of June 29, 2005, 
     all pension benefits of all participants under the plan are 
     immediately nonforfeitable.
       (4) As of April 25, 2007, the Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan provides--
       (A) for periods including June 29, 2005, and ending on or 
     before December 31, 2007, a credit to the account of each 
     participant equal to 40 percent of the pay credit provided to 
     such participant and interest credits determined for each 
     plan year at the average of the annual rates of interest on 
     10-year Treasury securities during a designated period in the 
     preceding plan year, and
       (B) for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008, 
     interest credits which satisfy the requirements of section 
     204(b)(5)(B)(i) of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
     Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5)(B)(i)) (added by section 
     701(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-
     280; 120 Stat. 981)) and section 4(i)(10)(B))(i) of the Age 
     Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 
     623(i)(10)(B)(i)) (added by section 701(c) of the Pension 
     Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280; 120 Stat. 989)).
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to clarify the age 
     discrimination rules under section 204(b)(1)(H) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and section 
     4(i)(1) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 
     as they relate to periods prior to June 29, 2005, during 
     which violations of such rules are alleged to have occurred 
     in civil actions commenced on or after April 25, 2007.

     SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF AGE DISCRIMINATION RULES.

       (a) In General.--In the case of any civil action which--
       (1) is commenced on or after April 25, 2007, and
       (2) alleges a violation of section 204(b)(1)(H) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
     1054(b)(1)(H)) or section 4(i)(1) of the Age Discrimination 
     in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(i)(1)) occurring 
     before June 29, 2005, with respect to any benefit provided 
     under the Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan,

     such sections 204(b)(1)(H) and 4(i)(1) shall be applied as if 
     paragraph (5) of section 204(b) of the Employee Retirement 
     Income Security Act of 1974 (as added by section 701(a)(1) of 
     the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(5); 120 
     Stat. 981) and paragraph (10) of section 4(i) of the Age 
     Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 
     623(i)(10); 120 Stat. 998) applied to any period in which 
     such alleged violation occurred.
       (b) Young Women's Christian Association Pension Plan.--For 
     purposes of this Act, the term ``Young Women's Christian 
     Association Pension Plan'' means the defined benefit plan (as 
     defined in section 3(35) of the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974) established on January 1, 1926, and 
     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.
                                 ______