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Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to EBSA on Pooled Employer Plans (PDF)

"We do not believe that the Department should, at this time, create new class exemptions that apply exclusively to PEPs.... We do not believe the Department should be creating safe harbors for PPPs and PEPs.... The disclosures provided to PEP participants should include all disclosures made in other ERISA plans."

Pension Rights Center Calls on Congress to Enhance Retirees' Financial Security

"PRC has developed policy principles to be used to evaluate any legislation aimed at increasing retirement income, particularly for low-and-moderate wage earners.... [1] Universal coverage. [2] Secure income. [3] Adequate income. [4] Shared responsibility between employees, employers and government. [5] Required contributions from employees and employers."

Pension Rights Center: The Year in Review (PDF)

"On November 16, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congress Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced comprehensive legislation to address the multiemployer pension crisis.... [T]he Pension Rights Center celebrated our 41st anniversary ... PRC staff fielded more than 1,600 calls from participants with pension and retirement savings plan problems in 49 states ... [PRC's] recoupment initiative ... is bringing together attorneys who represent plans and those who represent retirees to search for common ground on new rules to address this critically important problem.... [PRC] published fact sheets and blogs posts on the importance of pensions."

Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to EBSA on Proposed E-Disclosure Safe Harbor (PDF)

"The Pension Rights Center strongly objects to the proposed 'notice and access' delivery method in the proposed safe harbor which will harm many participants, particularly the most vulnerable populations, who are expected to understand their retirement plans and make good choices to ensure a secure retirement for themselves and their families.... The Pension Rights Center recommends that the [DOL] withdraw this flawed proposal for delivery of required disclosures and reconsider how to streamline ERISA disclosures without causing grave harm to participants and beneficiaries."

In Memoriam: Karen Ferguson, President and Founder of the Pension Rights Center

Photo: Pension Rights Center "Karen Ferguson ... president and founder [of the Pension Rights Center in Washington, D.C.] ... died on December 23rd from cancer.... Through her brilliance and determination, [in 1976, ten years after her 1966 graduation from Harvard Law School,] Karen created the leading organization fighting for pension beneficiaries and their families.... For 45 years, Karen was involved in virtually every piece of pension legislation [including the Retirement Equity Act of 1984] ... Karen also founded the Center's legal program [of approximately 570 registered lawyers], which serves as the resource center to six pension counseling and information programs ... [which] have helped tens of thousands of people obtain the pensions they have earned.... Over her career, Karen testified at scores of congressional and regulatory hearings, was quoted in hundreds of articles and co-authored, with Kate Blackwell, an acclaimed book on pensions, Pensions in Crisis: Why the System is Failing America and How You Can Protect Your Future.... Ralph Nader, who inspired Karen and provided her with the initial donation to create the Center, remarked '... Unassuming and unsung, she was both the brains and the national networker of efforts behind pension law reform. Her quiet, authoritative influence was felt on Capitol Hill, in executive suites, on the shop floors, and among specific pensioners needing immediate help.' ... In lieu of flowers, Karen's family has asked that donations be made to the Pension Rights Center."

Pension Rights Center of Washington, D.C. Goes Online

"The Pension Rights Center is the only consumer advocacy organization dedicated solely to protecting the pension rights of workers, retirees and their families. As the nation's pension watchdog group, we have taken the lead in targeting pension inequities, proposing realistic reform measures, and helping indivduals understand and enforce their pension rights. Numerous laws, regulations and landmark lawsuits are traceable directly to Center Initiatives."

Pension Rights Center Supports Creation of Federal Office of Participant Advocacy (PDF)

3 pages. Excerpt: The [Pension Rights] Center has long supported the establishment of such an office to complement the important work of the Pension Welfare and Benefits Administration in assisting participants understand their pension rights and secure the benefits to which they are legally entitled.... Its role would be purely advisory. Its functions would be similar to those of the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

Pension Rights Center Comments to ERISA Advisory Council on QDIA and Lifetime Income (PDF)

"[PRC believes] it is premature to endorse [the incorporation of lifetime income features in a plan's QDIA] because of the many critical issues and unanswered questions concerning the efficacy of defaulting participants into a lifetime income strategy through the various proposed mechanisms. Indeed, challenges remain even for plans that wish to offer participants elective insured or partially insured lifetime income options at the end of a participant's career."

Pension Rights Center Voices Concerns on Effect of Plan Information Electronic Recordkeeping

"The [DOL] should address the challenges and risks faced by employee benefit plan members due to the electronic and digital recordkeeping of their plan information, the Pension Rights Center told the ERISA Advisory Council ... [PRC representatives] voiced the concerns of employees and consumers who are often left out of the debate on electronic recordkeeping and other plan changes designed to promote administrative efficiencies and reduce costs."

Pension Rights Center Comment Letter to EBSA on Proposed Amendment of PTE2002-51 for Correction of Delinquent Participant Contributions Under VFCP (PDF)

"The Pension Rights Center recommends that the three-year limitation period remain applicable for fiduciaries using the prohibited transaction exemption for delinquent contributions.... [If] the Department chooses to eliminate the three-year limitation period, [PRC recommends] that such a change only be made on a trial basis so that the Department can monitor how often employers are using the VFC Program without the three-year limitation, and that the Department also prohibit use of the exemption in the case of a third failure to timely deposit participant contributions or loan repayments."