Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday offered some pension changes to pay for extending a subsidized student loan rate before it doubles next month.
In a letter sent to Republican congressional leaders, Mr. Reid, D-Nev., proposed allowing corporate pension plan sponsors to use a funding rate “stabilization range” over a 25-year period instead of shorter-term current corporate bond rates. The change would require fewer pension contributions and, as a result, more tax revenue, Mr. Reid wrote.
Mr. Reid also recommended raising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. premiums to help pay for the student loan rate freeze.
The pension rate stabilization idea was approved as part of a highway funding bill that is now stalled in the House.
“If House Republicans are still not ready to pass the transportation jobs bill, I suggest that we use part of these offsets to pay for the student loan legislation, and pass that measure immediately,” Mr. Reid wrote.
