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September 23, 2004
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House Bill Passed September 21 Bars Treasury Department from Undoing Cash-balance Ruling
Excerpt: "Legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday would bar the Treasury Department from taking any action to assist in overturning a 2003 federal court ruling that IBM Corp.'s cash balance pension plan discriminates against older employees." (Business Insurance)
Disaster Relief 04-24 Re: PBGC Deadlines in Response to Tropical Storm Frances in North Carolina
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the major disaster declared by the President of the United States on account of damages from Tropical Storm Frances during the period September 7-12, 2004, in North Carolina." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Disaster Relief 04-23 Relating to PBGC Deadlines in Response to Hurricane Frances in Florida
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is waiving certain penalties and extending certain deadlines in response to the major disaster declared by the President of the United States on account of damages from Hurricane Frances that began on September 3, 2004, in Florida." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Accumulated Defined Benefit Plan Funding Deficiency Cannot Be Corrected by Terminating the Plan
Excerpt: "Technical Tip 129: The following question and answer were from the IRS Q&A Session at the 2003 ASPA Annual Conference: A defined benefit plan has an accumulated funding deficiency. Can the accumulated funding deficiency be corrected by terminating the plan? Response: No. The termination of the plan does not correct a funding deficiency or the need to pay the first tier tax." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)
San Diego Report Depicts Public Pension Plan Meltdown
Excerpt: "Combine equal parts of accounting fiction, political games with budgets and optimistic assumed investment returns, and you get a multibillion dollar public pension headache for states and localities over the next decade. Consider, for example, what's going on in the city of San Diego." (Joe Mysak on Bloomberg.com)
Editorial: Presidential Campaign 2004: the Big Issue of Social Security Reform
Excerpt: "Among the clear-cut policy differences between President Bush and Senator John Kerry is each man's take on Social Security." (The New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
US Airways Sets Deadline for Concessions from Employees
Excerpt: "US Airways yesterday gave its unions until tomorrow to agree to emergency contract concessions. Otherwise, the airline said, it would ask a federal bankrup.tcy court to impose temporary pay cuts and other cost-saving steps aimed at generating much-needed cash. The ultimatum was contained in a bulletin last night from the chief executive, Bruce R. Lakefield, to the airline's 28,000 employees." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
United Airlines Delays Decision on Pension Plans' Fate
Excerpt: "United Airlines hopes to complete a new business plan within two months, including a decision on whether to terminate its pension plans, the company told employees yesterday. The statement came as part of a ''pension primer' letting employees know what would happen if it replaced its current pension plans with another retirement plan, such as a 401(k)." (Chicago Tribune via The Boston Globe)
Update on Same-Sex Marriage and Domestic Partner Issues after the San Francisco Marriage Decision
Excerpt: "Ruling in a pair of cases challenging the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses by the City and County of San Francisco, the California Supreme Court held that San Francisco officials exceeded their authority. The Court also held that the approximately 4,000 same-sex marriage licenses issued by San Francisco were void from the inception." (Littler Mendelson)
Kerry Maintains Domestic Focus, Turning to Social Security and Medicare
Excerpt: "Senator John Kerry extended his assault on President Bush's credibility from the war to the home front on Wednesday, asserting that on Social Security and Medicare, as on Iraq, Mr. Bush had failed to level with the American people." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Employee Stock Options: New Valuation Responsibilities and Planning Opportunities (PDF)
9 pages. Excerpt: "The new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) valuation standard has created an opportunity to truly understand the cost of employee stock options to the company and related value to the employee. Only with that understanding can an organization determine the employee's perceived value and be able to understand the drivers of productivity." (Benefits Quarterly via Aon)
Newly Posted Events
Cafeteria Plans
in Washington on September 29, 2004
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)
HIPAA’s Security Rule: Organizing Efforts, Meeting Compliance
Nationwide on September 30, 2004
presented by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Newly Posted Press Releases
SunGard Offers Automated Rollover Solution
(SunGard Corbel)
Treasury Urges Banks And Credit Unions To Offer Health Savings Accounts
(U.S. Department of Treasury)
Retirement Plan Expert asks Companies, “Are you Prepared?”
(Global Fiduciary Advisors, LLC.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Defined Benefit Calculation Specialists
for Constantin Control Associates
in IL, NC, NJ, NY, PA
401(k) Administrator
for Continental Benefits Group, Inc.
in NJ
Senior Corporate Counsel
for Financial Engines
in MA
ERISA Attorney Needed - Boise, Idaho
for The ERISA Law Group, P.A.
in ID
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