Senate leaders today continued to work out a deal for a bipartisan job-creation bill that possibly could include pension funding relief provisions, according to a Senate aide close to the discussions.
Talks are expected to go on through Monday.
“The (Senate) Finance Committee is working on final details,” said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in an e-mail response to questions today. “We still expect to consider job creating legislation next week.”
On Feb. 4, James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, said in a teleconference he believed the Senate bill would include the DB funding relief provisions.
The specifics of the funding relief elements of the Senate bill were unclear, Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., sponsor of House pension funding relief legislation, said at the teleconference.
Another Senate aide with knowledge of the bill said after the teleconference that Senate Democrats were still trying to work out a compromise with Senate Republicans over what should be included in the jobs bill, and it was unclear if funding relief provisions would be included. “It might be too early to say what's in there given the focus on trying to get bipartisan support,” the aide said.
