WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Sept. 8 approved legislation sponsored by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that would require the PBGC to disclose corporate pension plan funding levels to participants.
Mr. Miller's legislation, tacked on to the appropriations bill for the Health and Human Services and Labor Department, comes at a time when concern is mounting about several airline pension plans that are hugely underfunded. "Workers earn their pensions, and they have a right to know about the health of their company's pension plans, and a right to know whether they will have the retirement security they expect," Mr. Miller said in a statement after the vote. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, plans to introduce broad reform legislation that would aim to ensure employers fund their pension promises.
Under current law, plan sponsors with a shortfall of more than $50 million in their pension plans must disclose that to the federal pension insurance agency, but the PBGC cannot reveal the information to the public.
