Pension Bill Not Imminent at Capitol

Despite recent progress, Congress is unlikely to pass by Memorial Day legislation aimed at assuring financial solvency for the nation's employer-based pension system, Republican negotiators said Thursday.

House and Senate negotiators originally hoped to send a bill to the president before April 15, the time some companies had to recalculate their contributions to defined-benefit pension plans. But the two sides have stalled over several intractable issues, including Senate proposals to give special breaks to financially struggling airlines and to require companies with poor credit ratings to pay more into their pension plans.

Automakers strongly oppose the credit rating provision and the pension legislation was one topic when the CEOs of the Big Three automakers held meetings on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The bills passed by the Senate last November and the House in December would draw up a new formula for determining pension obligations, require companies with underfunded plans to make up the difference and protect the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures from future defaults employer-based plans worth $2 trillion and covering 44 million workers.

"We've made tremendous progress," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, after a meeting of GOP negotiators.

Story Continues Below

"There's been an awful lot of progress," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, a chief sponsor of the House bill, at an earlier news conference. "I am optimistic about finishing this bill soon."

But House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., said that while an agreement could be reached next week, it would be after the Memorial Day recess before the two chambers could vote on the compromise legislation.

He said they still needed to talk to Democrats and to the White House, which has previously threatened to veto any bill that weakens funding requirements and pushes the pension agency closer to a fiscal crisis that might require a taxpayer bailout.

McKeon also said a package of tax breaks, including extension of expiring research and development credit and college tuition tax breaks, would likely be attached to the pension bill.

Editor's note:
The Baby Boomers will wreak havoc – protect your wealth! Click Here Now
Social Security crisis is just the beginning – all pension systems are in danger! Read More Here
4 Supplements Can Extend Your Life!