[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Scott of South 
        Carolina, and Mr. Warner):
  S. 2913. A bill to apply cooperative and small employer charity 
pension plan rules to certain charitable employers whose primary exempt 
purpose is providing services with respect to mothers and children; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Protecting 
Critical Services for Mothers and Babies Act, with my colleague Senator 
Perdue. Enacting this bill will help ensure that mothers and infants 
across the country continue to receive access to important health 
programs.
  About 700 women die each year in the United States from complications 
during or after pregnancy, a problem that disproportionately affects 
Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native women. In the face of these 
challenges, organizations like March of Dimes provide services that 
disseminate health information to pregnant women and mothers and 
support care for premature and ill infants.
  Inflexible funding rules and historically low interest rates have 
combined to result in a sharp increase in March of Dimes' pension 
funding obligations next year. This Act will extend more flexible rules 
to organizations that have a long track record of serving maternal and 
infant health needs. These rules, already offered to other 
organizations, will continue to protect plan participants while also 
smoothing out pension funding obligations. This change will ensure that 
resources are not diverted away from important maternal and infant 
health programs.
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