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Thursday, August 10, 2006
Pension Reform: Write a check
A few days before Congress voted on pension reform, we had a suggestion: "Just go home." We figured doing nothing was better than a poorly crafted law. This is where we say, "We told you so."
President Bush is expected to sign the pension reform legislation into law this week.
Karen Ferguson, director of the Pension Rights Center, said Congress considered the measure for two years and yet enacted the 900-page bill without "serious debate" or considering amendments to improve it.
So what got included? Hold your nose: There's $50 million for Montana's Going to the Sun Highway; defense contractors get a three-year grace period before dealing with their underfunded pensions; and, of course, airlines get a 10-year catch-up period (along with an airline caterer).
Even worse, the bill doesn't do enough to balance a $450 billion shortfall in pension funding, nor will it prevent companies from using bankruptcy courts to dodge their pension obligations. It even permits sleight-of-hand accounting.
The bill is not completely awful -- it does encourage employers to automatically enroll workers in 401(k) savings programs.
"While the bill contains a handful of positive provisions that help some workers," Ferguson said, "it also contains provisions that allow plans to break pension promises, and, rather than strengthen the private pension system, are likely to weaken it."
And guess who will end up with the final bill for all this malarkey? Why ask? Just write a check.
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