Risk of pension meltdown grows as Congress fails to act
The window is closing on the chance to avert a pension meltdown that will slash the retirement benefits of more than a million U.S. workers.
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have been working on ways to protect the benefits promised to participants in multiemployer pension plans, which are created under collective bargaining agreements and jointly funded by groups of employers in industries like construction, trucking, mining and food retailing.
Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate laid out blueprints with very different visions for solutions, and failed to reach any agreement on a way forward.
Congress did slip a rescue package into the massive $1.4 trillion spending bill passed last month for one plan close to failure, sponsored by the United Mine Workers of America. But the House and Senate are deeply divided on how to solve the broader problem. Democrats are pushing for a package of low-interest loans to prop up the funds, while Republicans want to boost insurance premiums paid by employers, add new premiums paid by plan participants and force more conservative accounting assumptions.
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