New Joint Committee Seeks Input on PBGC Solvency, Multiemployer Pensions

The newly formed Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans is calling on retirement industry experts and the public to provide first-person information about the funding and risk management challenges plaguing the U.S. multiemployer pension system.

Co-chairs U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) say their joint Congressional committee’s first goal is to begin drafting a report on the solvency of multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). They will then provide “recommendations to significantly improve their long-term health.”

“Information and insights, from both the public and private sectors, will be useful to the committee as it analyzes the challenges plaguing the current multiemployer pension system and works to develop solutions to strengthen retirement security for Americans across the country,” Senator Hatch says.

According to Senator Brown, starting with this effort, the committee will work to “finally force Congress to treat the pension crisis in this country with the seriousness and urgency American workers deserve.”

“Hearing directly from workers, retirees and businesses about what is at stake for them will help the committee craft the best possible solution,” Brown notes.

Stakeholders can now submit input to the Joint Select Committee’s mailbox at JSCSMPP@finance.senate.gov. The deadline to respond to this first RFI is September 30, 2018. All submissions will be considered part of the public record; should be clear and concise; directed at the issues that the Joint Select Committee is charged to consider; and provided in the form of an email attachment (either in Microsoft Word or text-searchable PDF file). The email containing the attachment should clearly indicate the name(s) of the author(s), contact information and any professional affiliation.

The Senators’ call to action is a direct result of the establishment of the committee via the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Other lawmakers involved include Mike Crapo (R-ID); Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Joe Manchin III (D-WV); Rob Portman (OH); and Tina Smith (D-MN), as well as U.S. Representatives Phil Roe (R-TN), Vern Buchanan (R-FL); Debbie Dingell (MI); Virginia Foxx (NC); Richard E. Neal (MA); Donald Norcross (NJ); David Schweikert (R-AZ); and Bobby Scott (D-VA).

Under the budget law, the Joint Select Committee is charged with improving the solvency of multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. Duties of the Joint Select Committee are “to provide recommendations and legislative language that will significantly improve the solvency of those plans and of the corporation.” The Joint Select Committee is, not later than November 30, 2018, to vote on a report containing a detailed statement of findings, conclusions, and recommendations, and on proposed legislative language to carry out the recommendations described in the report.