Bill Summary
The Vested Employee Pension Benefit Protection Act is a proposed bill that aims to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The purpose of this bill is to protect employees in the building and construction industry who participate in multiemployer plans. This bill would ensure that employees who are at least 62 years old and still working are able to receive distributions from their pension plans. It also allows for a lower age requirement of 55 for employees in the building and construction industry who were part of a multiemployer plan before April 30, 2013, as long as the plan received written confirmation from the Internal Revenue Service before December 31, 2011 that the trust was qualified under the code. This bill will become effective immediately upon enactment.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could affect employees in the building and construction industry by allowing them to receive distributions from their pension plan at an earlier age (age 55 instead of 62). This could potentially provide financial relief for these employees who may need to retire earlier due to the physically demanding nature of their jobs.
2. It could also affect employers in the building and construction industry, as they may have to make adjustments to their pension plans to comply with the new age requirement for distributions. This could potentially impact their financial planning and budgeting.
3. The legislation could also affect the IRS and their process of determining whether a trust in a pension plan constitutes a qualified trust. The new requirement for written determinations may create additional workload and potentially delay the process for employers seeking approval for their pension plans.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2276 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2276
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect employees in the
building and construction industry who are participants in
multiemployer plans, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 25, 2019
Mr. Blunt (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Hawley)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect employees in the
building and construction industry who are participants in
multiemployer plans, and for other purposes.
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 ``Vested Employee Pension Benefit
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. MINIMUM AGE FOR DISTRIBUTIONS DURING WORKING RETIREMENT.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (36) of section 401(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
``(36) Distributions during working retirement.--
``(A) In general.--A trust forming part of a
pension plan shall not be treated as failing to
constitute a qualified trust under this section solely
because the plan provides that a distribution may be
made from such trust to an employee who has attained
age 62 and who is not separated from employment at the
time of such distribution.
``(B) Certain employees in the building and
construction industry.--Subparagraph (A) shall be
applied by substituting `age 55' for `age 62' in the
case of a multiemployer plan described in section
4203(b)(1)(B)(i) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, with respect to individuals who
were participants in such plan on or before April 30,
2013, if--
``(i) the trust to which subparagraph (A)
applies was in existence before January 1,
1970, and
``(ii) before December 31, 2011, at a time
when the plan provided that distributions may
be made to an employee who has attained age 55
and who is not separated from employment at the
time of such distribution, the plan received at
least 1 written determination from the Internal
Revenue Service that the trust to which
subparagraph (A) applies constituted a
qualified trust under this section.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to distributions made before, on, or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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