(updated with correction)
Groups representing executives of companies that sponsor some of the nation's largest pension plans urged members of Congress to permanently ease rules for interest rates used to calculate their defined benefit plan contributions.
A total of 204 business groups and companies sent a letter Tuesday as Congress debates a highway funding bill that includes the pension funding rate provision, arguing that unlike a Senate-approved version that applies for only 2012, the final bill should have permanent relief.
“Government-promoted artificially low interest rates translate into very high estimates of pension liability, which now have resulted in immediate, excessive, and unnecessary required pension contributions,” the letter stated.
