Congress Misses Memorial Day Deadline; Pension Reform Possible in June

Members of Congress trying to reach a compromise on pension reform legislation fell short of a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline to move the bill but several high-ranking congressional leaders say they hope the bill will be enacted before July 4.

The conference committee working out the differences between the House and Senate versions must still tackle a number of controversial issues, including how to address the legal status of hybrid pension plans, whether to give certain troubled industries special relief under a new funding law and, overall, how to balance the desire to improve pension fund finances without substantially hurting sponsors’ bottom lines.

While senators and representatives on the conference committee and their aides have been working on a compromise, the House has passed a number of non-binding resolutions instructing the conferees on how to address certain contentious areas such as nonqualified deferred compensation and hybrid plans.

Read more about pension reform negotiations
Read more about pension reform