KENNEDY, COLLEAGUES ANNOUNCE PENSION PROTECTION PLANS, PROPOSAL ALSO INCLUDES TAX HELP FOR FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES

Washington, DC – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member

Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) were joined today by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)

Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) in

announcing legislation to help ease the financial strain on American families and businesses due to the

lagging economy.

The package includes important modifications to pension distribution requirements for

seniors and businesses, as well as provisions included in the Pension Protection Technical Correction Act

of 2008, originally passed by the Senate in December 2007 and the House in March and July of this year.

The bipartisan package also extends for one year business tax relief that was included in the first

economic stimulus package, and allows companies to write off a greater percentage of their investments

in business assets to free up cash for payroll and other expenses.

Kennedy said, “This bipartisan package addresses immediate pension needs arising from the

financial crisis. It’s an important first step, but there is much more to be done to protect families’

retirement security. In these hard economic times, Americans have much to be concerned about,

but they shouldn’t have to lie awake at night worrying whether their hard-earned pensions will

survive. I look forward to working with my colleagues to do all we can to see that employees’

pensions stay safe and sound.”

“Americans need real help from Congress to make sure their retirement savings are safe and sound

and available to them when they need it. The provisions we’re offering here today are a viable

effort to move the economy toward recovery,” Baucus said. “We’ve included measures to make

pension plan requirements as friendly as they can be for seniors and employers so that they avoid a

tax hit that wouldn’t otherwise burden them under normal market conditions. And we’re making

it possible for struggling businesses to keep their houses in order by allowing them a greater return

on what they invest in their operations. ”

  “This bill contains important stop-gap measures to help protect pension holders given the great anxiety many face right now because of the economic downturn. It also contains tax relief measures to help employers weather the storm and continue to meet obligations to employees. These are common sense measures to help get through a difficult environment,” Grassley said.

“I’m pleased that we’ve been able to work together in a very short period of time and reach

agreement on a balanced package that will help protect the retirement interests of individual

retirees, workers, and pension plans,” Enzi said.

“This agreement not only recognizes the economic stress families are feeling with their retirement nest eggs, but also will put in place key provisions of the Pension Protection Technical Correction Act. Together, these changes will help families and bring temporary relief to weather troubled markets that threaten the safety of the retirement savings millions are depending on.”

Business tax incentives and pension provisions in the package include:

•  A provision for companies to claim as an expense a greater portion of their property cost, as well

as increase the total dollar amount of allowable asset depreciation for a period of one year.

• A measure to provide relief for seniors age 70 and 1/2 or older who are required to take

distributions from their retirement plans. This allows savings to stay put and avoid a tax hit when

the market is down.

• A provision allowing single-employer pension plans to account for expected earnings in addition

to contributions and distributions when determining the value of the plan’s assets. In addition, for

those plans that fall below the set target funding percentage for a particular year (e.g., 92 percent

in 2008), these plans will only be required to fund up to the specified funding percentage for that

year, instead of 100 percent.

• Other pension provisions address difficulties faced by multi-employer pension plans by allowing

a freeze of their current funding status so that funds that have dropped in value due to the decline

in the stock market can avoid being classified as “endangered” or “critical.” For those multiemployer

plans that have established a funding improvement or rehabilitation plan for 2008 and

2009, the funding improvement and rehabilitation period would be extended from ten years to

thirteen years.

• A measure to allow plans, for purposes of applying the restriction on benefit accruals, to use their

2008 funding status in 2009.

• A Tribal pension provision would eliminate the distinction between different types of employees

within Indian tribal government pension plans so that tribal plans receive the same tax treatment

as state and local government plans.