Compliance February 4, 2003
In Detail: Ways & Means Vote on Pension Reform
April 25, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - As the House
Committee on Education and the Workforce turns its attention
to pension reform, a few minor changes were made to the
version of HR 10 coming out of the House Ways & Means
Committee.
Reported by editors@plansponsor.com
During debate, the committee adopted three amendments to the bill, according to the American Benefits Council. These amendments:
- would help families establish pension plans for household workers by removing the excise tax on non-deductible retirement plan contributions made for household workers (passed unanimously)
- permit religious orders, such as the Amish, to contribute to retirement plans even though they do not pay employment taxes (passed unanimously)
- allow cruise lines to exclude non-resident aliens with limited US income from their employer-sponsored retirement plans, effectively boosting the contribution rate of relatively higher paid ship officers (passed 27-12, largely on party lines).
“No” Way
Largely along party lines, the committee rejected two amendments proposed by Rep. Richard Neal (D- Ma) that would have:
- provided refundable tax credits for contributions made by low- and middle-income workers to employer-sponsored plans and IRAs (up to $1,000/year) and
- established two small business tax credits, one for
start-up costs and another for contributions on behalf of
non-highly compensated workers, that would have matched
50% of contributions to IRAs or qualified plans for
families earning up to $25,000/year, with a phase out up
to $75,000/year.
Vote Note
The Ways and Means Committee approved the bill 35-6 margin. All committee Republicans voted in favor of the bill joined by 11 Democrats.
The six Democrats opposing the bill were:
- Xavier Becerra (CA)
- Robert Matsui (CA)
- Jim McDermott (WA)
- Richard Neal (MA)
- Charles Rangel (NY)
- Pete Stark (CA)
HR 10 will be reviewed tomorrow by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and will be considered on the House floor next week.
– Nevin Adams
editors@plansponsor.com