General Lee
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2002
- Posts
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Deal reached on Pension Relief:
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- House and Senate negotiators finalized a temporary pension rescue package Thursday that will save employers around $80 billion in payments over the next two years.
House-Senate negotiators reach deal on pension relief
The vote on the package fell along party lines.
The Republican-backed plan replaces the current 30-year Treasury bond interest rate that is used by many employers to calculate the amount of money they must set aside in their employee pension plans with a blend of corporate bond index rates. The new rates would be used through 2005.
It also provides relief to airlines, such as UAL Corp.'s (UALAQ: news, chart, profile) United Airlines, and steelmakers with underfunded pension plans, cutting the size of catch-up required contributions by 80 percent over the next two years. Conferees agreed to drop provisions in the Senate bill that provided similar relief for all other single employer pension plans.
Democrats objected to provisions that provide relief to only some multi-employer plans, which are typically ran jointly by unions and management. The White House had threatened to veto any measure that provided broad relief to multi-employer plans.
The House is expected to approve the report Friday before the chamber breaks for a two-week Easter recess. The Senate could take up the measure next week.
"The proposal adopted by conferees today is a fair and responsible proposal that meets the goal that conferees agreed upon, which was to target multiemployer relief only to those plans most in need. Most importantly, I believe this compromise is a proposal the president will sign," said House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Congress is under pressure to finish work by April 15, when companies would be required to make pension contributions based on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds. Since the Treasury no longer issues T-bonds, the tight supply of outstanding issues has raised their price substantially.
Bye Bye--General Lee
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- House and Senate negotiators finalized a temporary pension rescue package Thursday that will save employers around $80 billion in payments over the next two years.
House-Senate negotiators reach deal on pension relief
The vote on the package fell along party lines.
The Republican-backed plan replaces the current 30-year Treasury bond interest rate that is used by many employers to calculate the amount of money they must set aside in their employee pension plans with a blend of corporate bond index rates. The new rates would be used through 2005.
It also provides relief to airlines, such as UAL Corp.'s (UALAQ: news, chart, profile) United Airlines, and steelmakers with underfunded pension plans, cutting the size of catch-up required contributions by 80 percent over the next two years. Conferees agreed to drop provisions in the Senate bill that provided similar relief for all other single employer pension plans.
Democrats objected to provisions that provide relief to only some multi-employer plans, which are typically ran jointly by unions and management. The White House had threatened to veto any measure that provided broad relief to multi-employer plans.
The House is expected to approve the report Friday before the chamber breaks for a two-week Easter recess. The Senate could take up the measure next week.
"The proposal adopted by conferees today is a fair and responsible proposal that meets the goal that conferees agreed upon, which was to target multiemployer relief only to those plans most in need. Most importantly, I believe this compromise is a proposal the president will sign," said House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Congress is under pressure to finish work by April 15, when companies would be required to make pension contributions based on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds. Since the Treasury no longer issues T-bonds, the tight supply of outstanding issues has raised their price substantially.
Bye Bye--General Lee
