WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today sent a letter to members of the Obama administration requesting two overdue reports on the multiemployer pension plan system. These reports are intended to provide an analysis of whether existing premium requirements are sufficient to support the multiemployer benefits guarantee and evaluate the effects of changes to federal pension law enacted in 2006 on both multiemployer plans and small employers.

In their letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Director Joshua Gotbaum, the Republican leaders state:

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) made significant changes to the multiemployer pension plan system, and we remain concerned about the challenges facing these plans. Timely receipt of pertinent reports from the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury and Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is critical as Congress investigates the state of the multiemployer pension plan system and evaluates the consequences of PPA provisions. Two such reports required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the PPA were due December 31, 2011; however, neither has been submitted to Congress.

The House and Senate members request that the overdue reports, as well as an explanation for the delay, be provided to Congress by November 2, 2012. To view the full letter, click here.