For Immediate Release
Washington, DC – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) encourages the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to delay the implementation date for the proposed Department of Treasury rule on mortality tables for determining present value under defined benefit pension plans.
ERIC is the only national association that advocates exclusively for large employers on health, retirement, and compensation public policies at the federal, state, and local levels; its members provide comprehensive retirement benefits to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. A delay would provide employers with continued stability and predictability they need to provide benefits to their workforces. Without a delay, an immense burden would be placed on plan sponsors to implement massive changes to their pension plan by the end of this year.
ERIC met with representatives from the IRS, Treasury, and OIRA, as well as submitted comments, asking the agency to take the entire 90 days permitted under Executive Order 12866 to ensure that the proposed rule is considered carefully and delay the rule’s implementation to January 1, 2020. ERIC previously submitted comments in April of this year, asking for additional review of the proposed rule, including a thorough economic analysis.
“The ERISA Industry Committee encourages the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to delay the mortality table rule and the Department of Treasury to continue its review, while taking into account other regulatory and legislative changes that have increased the cost to plan sponsors to operate a pension plan,” said Will Hansen, Senior Vice President of Retirement and Compensation Policy, ERIC. “Regulators and Congress have a history of creating a challenging environment for plan sponsors to navigate, including unnecessarily raising PBGC premiums at will. This behavior is extremely harmful for plan sponsors, plan participants, and the pension system as a whole.”