4 pages. "The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3108, the Pension Funding Equity Act, by a vote of 336-69 on April 2, 2004. The legislation was approved by the Senate on April 8 by a vote of 78-19. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law later in April. The bill will make several changes to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and [ERISA] with respect to funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans. Many of these plans experienced declines in the value of their pension fund assets as a result of the stock market decline from 2000 through 2002, and increases in the value of plan liabilities resulting from historically low interest rates. The bill will change the interest rate used to calculate the present value of pension plan liabilities, temporarily reduce the amount of additional plan contributions required to be made by s ponsors of underfunded plans (but only in certain industries), and make changes to the schedule for amortizing investment losses incurred by some multiemployer plans." [Report RS21717, updated Apr. 9, 2004]

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