109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4428
To clarify the status of retirement benefits provided by the Young
Women's Christian Association Retirement Fund under the benefit accrual
standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 18, 2005
Mr. TIBERI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways
and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction
of the committee concerned
A BILL
To clarify the status of retirement benefits provided by the Young
Women's Christian Association Retirement Fund under the benefit accrual
standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `YWCA Retirement Plan Preservation Act of 2005'.
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF BENEFIT ACCRUAL STANDARDS.
(a) Rules Relating to Reduction in Accrued Benefits Because of Attainment
of Any Age-
(1) COMPARISON TO SIMILARLY SITUATED, YOUNGER INDIVIDUALS-
(A) IN GENERAL- A pension plan described in subsection (c) shall not
be treated as failing to meet the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(H)(i)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or section 411(b)(1)(H)(i)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if a participant's entire accrued
benefit, as determined as of any date under the formula for determining
benefits as set forth in the text of the plan documents, would be equal
to or greater than that of any similarly situated, younger individual.
(B) SIMILARLY SITUATED INDIVIDUAL- For purposes of this paragraph, an
individual is similarly situated to a participant if such individual
is identical to such participant in every respect (including period
of service, compensation, position, date of hire, work history, and
any other respect) except for age.
(C) SUBSIDIZED PORTION OF EARLY RETIREMEN BENEFIT DISREGARDED- In determining
the entire accrued benefit for purposes of this paragraph, the subsidized
portion of any early retirement benefit (including any early retirement
subsidy that is fully or partially included or reflected in an employee's
opening balance or other transition benefits) shall be disregarded.
(2) TREATMENT OF INTEREST ACCRUED ON HYPOTHETICAL ACCOUNT- A pension plan
described in subsection (c) under which the accrued benefit payable under
the plan upon distribution (or any portion thereof) is expressed as the
balance of a hypothetical account maintained for the participant shall
not be treated as failing to meet the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(H)(i)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or section 411(b)(1)(H)(i)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 solely because interest accruing
on such balance is taken into account.
(3) ALLOWABLE OFFSETS- A pension plan described in subsection (c) shall
not be treated as failing to meet the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(H)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or section 411(b)(1)(H)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 solely because the plan provides
allowable offsets against those benefits under the plan which are attributable
to employer contributions, based on benefits which are provided under
title II of the Social Security Act, the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974,
another plan described in section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 maintained by the same employer, or under any retirement program
for officers or employees of the Federal Government or of the government
of any State or political subdivision thereof. For purposes of this paragraph,
allowable offsets based on such benefits consist of offsets equal to all
or part of the actual benefit payment amounts, reasonable projections
or estimations of such benefit payment amounts, or actuarial equivalents
of such actual benefit payment amounts, projections, or estimations (determined
on the basis of reasonable actuarial assumptions).
(4) COMPLIANCE WITH RULES PERMITTING DISPARITY IN PLAN CONTRIBUTIONS OR
BENEFITS- A pension plan described in subsection (c) shall not be treated
as failing to meet the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(H) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or section 411(b)(1)(H) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 solely because the plan provides a disparity
in contributions or benefits with respect to which the requirements of
section 401(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are met.
(5) PRE-RETIREMENT INDEXING-
(A) IN GENERAL- A pension plan described in subsection (c) shall not
be treated as failing to meet the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(H)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or section 411(b)(1)(H)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 solely because the plan provides
for pre-retirement indexing of accrued benefits under the plan.
(B) DEFINITION- For purposes of this clause, the term `pre-retirement
indexing' means, in connection with an accrued benefit, the periodic
adjustment of the accrued benefit by means of the application of a recognized
index or methodology so as to protect the economic value of the benefit
against inflation prior to distribution.
(b) Determinations of Accrued Benefit as Balance of Benefit Account-
(1) IN GENERAL- A pension plan described in subsection (c) under which
the accrued benefit payable under the plan upon distribution (or any portion
thereof) is expressed as the balance of a hypothetical account maintained
for the participant shall not be treated as failing to meet the requirements
of section 203(a)(2) or 205(g) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 or section 411(a)(2) or 417(e) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 solely because of the amount actually made available for such
distribution under the terms of the plan, in any case in which the applicable
interest rate that would be used under the terms of the plan to project
the amount of the participant's account balance to normal retirement age
is not greater than a market rate of return.
(2) REGULATIONS- The Secretary of the Treasury may provide by regulation
for rules governing the calculation of a market rate of return for purposes
of paragraph (1) and for permissible methods of crediting interest to
the account (including variable interest rates) resulting in effective
rates of return meeting the requirements of paragraph (1).
(c) Pension Plan Described- A pension plan described in this subsection
is a defined benefit plan (as defined in section 3(35) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 or section 414(j) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986) maintained by the Young Women's Christian Association Retirement
Fund, a corporation created by an Act of the State of New York which became
law on April 12, 1924.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to periods beginning
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
END
