"A bill unanimously passed by the Senate that would clarify what constitutes a 'substantial cessation of operations' under ERISA Section 4062(e) may see action in the House during Congress's lame duck session. Under S. 2511, passed by senators Sept. 16, a substantial cessation of operations would be clarified to ... change the liability trigger from 20 percent of plan participants to 15 percent of all employees of the employer. They also specify that a cessation of operations must be 'permanent.' These clarifications are supported by the business community, which say the regulations proposed to implement this law have been too broad, too expensive and make business planning difficult."  MORE >>