Budget Bill Includes Creation of Committee to Deal With Multiemployer Plans

The budget bill released by the Senate includes a provision to create a special committee to work on pension reform.

According to a press release on Senator Chuck Schumer’s, D-New York, website, the new law would create a Joint Select Committee to Solve the Multiemployer Pension Crisis which will introduce bipartisan legislation to address the multiemployer pension crisis by December this year.

Schumer mentioned that plans, such as the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan, are in dire financial trouble.  Last November, Congressional Democrats introduced the Butch Lewis Act, which they said is legislation that “establishes a legacy fund within the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC} to ensure that multiemployer pension plans can continue to provide pension benefits to every eligible American for decades to come.” The said the legislation is paid for by closing “two tax loopholes that allow the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.”

The PBGC reports that its multiemployer pension plan program is expected to run out of money by the end of 2025.