Tiberi co-authors bipartisan pension bill

Tiberi co-authors bipartisan pension bill

 The Columbus Dispatch Politics Blog, October 28, 2009

Saying that, "once in a while around here some bipartisanship breaks out," Democratic Rep.Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota unveiled a pension funding relief bill today along with his GOP co-author, Rep. Pat Tiberi of Genoa Township.

The topic may sound arcane. But it is critically important to keeping companies from either freezing pension funds or laying off more workers even as the economy struggles out of the recession, the lawmakers said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

At issue is a looming crisis caused by federal requirements for pension fund contributions aiming to ensure the solvency of workers' retirement plans. But last year's slumping stock market meant some pension plans were technically underfunded, according to federal law. There was a temporary fix adopted by the Treasury Department, but the same problem will face employer pension plans in 2010, say Pomeroy and Tiberi, members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Without the legislation, the lawmakers say, the federal requirements could mandate employers put so much money into the plans next year that they would have to lay off workers to afford the mandated contribution increase.

A number of representatives of labor unions, businesses and nonprofits say they endorse the approach of the Pomeroy-Tiberi bill. Participation is voluntary, but those who do could extend contribution schedules over nine years and pay only interest during the first two years or put themselves on a 15-year plan to make up the funding requirements. In return for the longer payment schedules, employers would have to guarantee to offer ongoing retirement benefits and meet other conditions, the lawmaker say.

Pomeroy said, however, that a different approach, one that may look at a wider slice of benefits issues, among Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee may compete with his bill. But he said it is vital to pass a fix to the problem by the end of the year, one way or the other, in a way that still ensures the future solvency of pensions funds.

Tiberi recalled a childhood experience when his father lost his job and his pension and the family went through hard times as part of the basis for his understanding of why it is so important to address the pension underfunding problem.

"This bill is more than just about pensions," Tiberi said.

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