Senate Committee Advances ERISA Amendments Impacting PBGC

The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced a bill seeking to better define rules for protecting pension assets when companies downsize or close.

Congress may be deadlocked on any number of issues, but the HELP Committee was able to reach strong bipartisan consensus on seven bills in recent weeks—sending the would-be laws to Senate leadership for potential deliberation before by the full upper house. One of the pieces of legislation, known as S. 2511, would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)—specifically the sections pertaining to “pension downsizing liability rules.”

The goal of S. 2511, according to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the HELP Committee, is to “ensure that there is a workable mechanism to protect pension benefits when employers show symptoms of financial distress.” The text of the bill is quite short by the way of employment and benefits law, stretching just onto three pages.  

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In short, the bill would make technical amendments to Subsection (e) of Section 4062 of ERISA by inserting language to further define what constitutes a “substantial cessation of operations.” The bill would also clarify when the relevant regulatory bodies, namely the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), should step in to assist stressed pension funds. Committee members say the steps are necessary to prevent unnecessary intervention by the PBGC while also ensuring protections for participants will be available when they’re truly needed.

Should the amendments be approved by Congress, an employer shall not be treated as having a cessation as described in Section 4062 unless “(A)(i) all operations at a facility in a location are ceased, and such cessation is reasonably expected to be permanent; (ii) no portion of such operations is moved to another facility at a different location; (iii) no portion of such operations is assumed by or otherwise transferred to another employer; and (iv) no other operations are reasonably expected to be maintained at such facility; and (B) as a result of the cessation … more than 20 percent of the employees of the employer have a termination of employment that is reasonably expected to be permanent.”

The bill also includes direction that the PBGC “shall not take any enforcement, administrative, or other action pursuant to section 4062(e) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 that is inconsistent with subparagraph (A) of section 4062(e)(2) of such Act, as added by subsection (a), without regard to whether the action relates to a cessation or other event that occurs before or after the date of enactment of this Act, unless such action is in connection with a settlement agreement in place before June 1, 2014.”

While the language itself does not necessarily sound like a big win for pension plan participants, Committee members say further defining what a cessation is (and when the PBGC should step in) will bring more certainty and efficiency to the difficult process of managing pension funds at closing and struggling employers. Further, Committee members say the PBGC has on occasion been forced to take action related to pension funds at employers that met the technical definition of cessation without actually being in a position of hardship.

In a statement issued shortly after S.2511’s approval by the HELP Committee, The American Benefits Council (ABC) applauded the move. James Klein, president of ABC, says the bill includes a number of “common-sense measures to clarify the language of the longstanding statutory provisions.”

“This measure returns enforcement of the law to its original purpose,” he says. “In recent years, the PBGC’s enforcement policy has given rise to significant compliance challenges and large unexpected liabilities for many companies that have engaged in normal business transactions, such as the sale of a very small business unit or the consolidation of small operations at different facilities, where there is no actual cessation of operation. … We look forward to working with lawmakers who support retirement security as this measure is considered by the full Senate and, hopefully, its ultimate enactment.”

These U. S. Cities Are Tops for Barbecue

Where there’s smoke, there’s fiery debate over which American cities offer the best barbecue. 

As part of the America’s Favorite Cities survey, “Travel + Leisure” readers ranked 35 metro areas for qualities including barbecue. Texas should be proud: it took four places on the list. But maybe the Lone Star State is ashamed: it didn’t make the top three.

Top honors go to Nashville, and in fact Tennessee has the two top spots. New York City, with its raft of regionally inspired barbecue joints—Blue Smoke, Georgia’s Eastside BBQ, Virgil’s Barbecue, Fette Sau, Dinosaur Barbecue—didn’t even make the top 20, pushed aside by Providence, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; and Portland. (Both Maine and Oregon.)  

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The top 10 barbecue cities are:

  1. Nashville, Tennessee. Music City won for a collection of barbecue styles, from the whole-hog approach of rural Tennessee, the tomato-y sauces of Memphis and even the mayo-and-vinegar white sauces more typical of Alabama.
  2. Memphis, Tennessee. Ribs and pork sandwiches are the staples of Memphis-style barbecue: dry-rubbed and smoked over hickory and often mopped with sauce while cooking.
  3. Kansas City, Missouri. Only within the realm of barbecue can a gas-station location boost your appeal. At least that’s the case with one spot on the KC barbecue scene. This meatpacking city – also at the top of the survey for great burgers – is known for burnt ends that come off brisket and taste great with a tomatoes-meet-molasses sauce.
  4. Austin, Texas. With its emphasis on lightly seasoned brisket, German sausage and a tomato-vinegar sauce (and sometimes even no sauce), Texas barbecue has plenty of passionate loyalists in the state capital. The ultimate barbecue-lovers’ day trip from Austin is Lockhart, Texas, less than an hour away, with its old-time classic joints. Readers also put Austin in the top five for food trucks, including barbecue.
  5. Houston, Texas. Local stars include mom-and-pop-style, smoked duck, jalapeño cheese bread and rich Brazos Bottom pecan pie.
  6. San Antonio, Texas. Some of its emerging barbecue has a cutting-edge style, including brisket and house-made sausage, grilled quail, root beer-sautéed scallops, Texas toast glazed with a mixture of brisket drippings, butter and sea salt and a quasi-vegetarian baked potato stuffed with cheese and chopped brisket.
  7. Charleston, South Carolina. This state may represent the most diversity among the main barbecue styles thanks to its core of four sauces (mustard-based, vinegar-and-pepper and two tomato-based). One Charleston spot offers six sauces (including an Alabama white) with ribs, turkey or Redneck Pot Roast (brisket).
  8. Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas. It says something about the cowboy-spirited metroplex that folks flock to the farmers’ market for meat: Pitmaster sandwiches (brisket, pulled pork, and sausage) and brisket, sausage and beef ribs sans sauce right off the butcher paper.
  9. Savannah, Georgia. A “BBQ bologna sandwich” is offered on one menu, as well as a changing selection of sauces, such as Shot Gun Wedding or Voo Doo Juice and a down-South version of poutine (french fries topped with baked beans and cheese), as well as ribs, fried chicken and collard greens.
  10. New Orleans, Louisiana. Barbecue on this city’s own terms: pork-belly po’boys and sausage-filled boudin balls, Cajun chaurice sausage and spicy Creole coleslaw.

 

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