House, Senate Approve Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Bill of 2008
The House and Senate on December 10 and December 11, 2008, respectively, approved the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 7327) by unanimous consent. Passage of the measure came as House leadership dropped objectionable tax breaks advanced by Senate Democrats, forcing the Senate to approve a clean bill. The White House has indicated that President Bush will sign the measure when it reaches his desk.
Among the provisions is a measure to provide relief for seniors age 70 1/2 or older who are required to take distributions from their retirement plans under current law. The provision would allow savings to stay put and avoid a tax hit for seniors when the market is down. Another measure gives generally healthy multiemployer pension plans that were hurt by the decline in the stock market the ability to avoid drastic contribution increases and cutbacks in worker benefits.
Additional provisions in the bill will allow single-employer pension plans to account for expected and unexpected earnings in addition to contributions and distributions when determining the value of the plan's assets. Those plans that fall below the set target funding percentage for a particular year will be required to fund up to the specified funding percentage for that year, instead of 100 percent. Other provisions in the bill were also included in the Pension Protection Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (H.R. 6382), originally passed by the Senate in December 2007, and the House in March and July of 2008.
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
<p>House, Senate Approve Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Bill of 2008  The House and Senate on December 10 and December 11, 2008, respectively, approved the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (H.R. 7327) by unanimous consent. Passage of</p>
House, Senate Approve Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Bill of 2008
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