Deals and People February 26, 2018

House Members Appointed to Multiemployer Pensions Committee

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced he was named co-chair of the committee; however, there were no press releases at the time of publication announcing other Senate appointees.

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House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) announced his appointees to the Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, charged with improving the solvency of multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

His appointees include:

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  • Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee;
  • Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tennessee), House Education and the Workforce Committee;
  • Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida), House Ways and Means Committee; and
  • Rep. David Schweikert (R-Arizona), House Ways and Means Committee.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) has appointed:

  • Rep. Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, Ways and Means Ranking Committee Member;
  • Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member;
  • Rep. Donald Norcross of New Jersey, Education and Workforce Committee; and
  • Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, Energy and Commerce Committee.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced he was named co-chair of the committee; however, there were no press releases at the time of publication on either the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (Kentucky) or Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Shumer’s (New York) websites announcing other Senate appointees.

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 established the committee and requires that it hold public hearings, and vote on its findings and legislative recommendations no later than November 30, 2018. If approved, those recommendations would be submitted for consideration by the House and Senate. The committee will be dissolved no later than December 31, 2018.
Data and Research February 26, 2018

Workers Say Benefits Give Them a Sense of Financial Security

However, this is not always the case for lower-income workers, MassMutual found in a survey.

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Fifty-eight percent of middle-income workers, those with household incomes of between $35,000 and $150,000, say they feel more financially secure because of workplace benefits, according to the MassMutual Workplace Benefits Study, based on a survey of 1,010 working Americans conducted by Greenwald & Associates.

Among those in households with incomes between $70,000 and $150,000, 65% say they feel more secure because of workplace benefits, but this is only true for 42% of those with incomes of less than $45,000. MassMutual says this may indicate a need for more financial education in the workplace.

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“MassMutual’s study indicates that there may be a knowledge gap in the understanding and use of employee benefits among certain employee populations,” says Jon Shuman, leader of MassMutual’s voluntary benefits unit. “More lower- and middle-income workers are likely to say that they wish their employer did more to help them set financial priorities than upper-middle-income workers.”

MassMutual also learned that only 25% of employees are offered financial education, yet 50% would welcome it. In addition, 51% said they would like their employer to provide more education about saving for retirement.

The MassMutual Workplace Benefits Study can be downloaded here.

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