“The House passed legislation Wednesday in a 264-169 vote aimed at helping stabilize multiemployer pension plans in hopes of mitigating the looming pension crisis,” writes Juliegrace Bufke in Wednesday’s (7/24) The Hill (Washington, D.C.). “Twenty-nine Republicans—nine of whom co-sponsored the legislation—joined Democrats in voting for the measure. The Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act … introduced by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) … includes provisions that would establish a Pension Rehabilitation Administration within the Department of the Treasury and a trust fund that would provide low-interest government-guaranteed loans that pension plans could pay back over the course of 30 years.” Many orchestras and musicians participate in the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund Plan. “Plans would only be eligible to receive the loans if they were in critical, declining status or insolvent. Proponents argue the bill is necessary as there are 1,400 multiemployer plans covering about 10 million people throughout the United States … The bill is likely to face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled upper chamber.”
Posted July 26, 2019
