Pension & Benefits Reporter Index-Summary

LABOR DEPARTMENT (DOL)

– Budget for FY2009, includes hike for EBSA and PBGC, 334
– “elaws advisor” announced, 1067
– ERISA advisory panel

– – Meeting, In Brief, 853
– – Members named, 843

– Fiduciary retirement seminar planned, In Brief, 1282
– Health law seminar planned, In Brief, 1033
– Regulatory agenda released, 1069
– Senior policy advisor retiring, In Brief, 563
– Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program workshop, In Brief, 1121
– Women's health conference planned, In Brief, 862
– Workshop planned, In Brief, 1214; 1214

LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL

– Gastonia, N.C., retired officers class action accuses city of depriving them of vested benefits (W.D.N.C.), 98
– Los Angeles officers retired after injuries fail to show that pension offset for workers' comp was discriminatory (9th Cir.), 925
– Orange County, Cal., seeks to void retroactive portion of enhanced benefits for deputy sheriffs (Cal. Super. Ct.), 430
– Warwick, R.I., not required to pay all medical expenses for disabled police and firefighters (D.R.I.), 322

LEGISLATION, FEDERAL

– House

– – HConRes 312, FY2009 budget resolution, House approves, 611; Citizens for Tax Justice favor over Senate plan, 653
– – HR 334, Healthy Americans Act, Wyden (D-Or), would require individuals to purchase coverage and would establish state-run purchasing pools and system of federal premium collections and subsidies, CBO reports, 1027; Wyden predicts action, 1126; mentioned at conference, 1494
– – HR 493, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, Slaughter (D-NY), 906; Senate approves, 975; House approves, 1007; signed, 1179; concerns raised by employer advocates, 1181; Analysis & Perspective, 1309
– – HR 971, Community Pharmacy Fairness Act, would allow certain independent pharmacies to negotiate prices collectively with drug benefit plans and health insurers, 195
– – HR 1424, Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, Pelosi (D-Cal) predicts passage, 234; business groups warn Pelosi (D-Cal) of effect of bill, 355; advocates disappointed, 567; business and patient advocates optimistic, 616; Kennedy (D-Mass) and Domenici (R-NM) offer compromise, 668; compromise urged, 719; Kennedy says agreement likely, 770; House plans counteroffer, 979; counterproposal offered, 1225; deal reached between House and Senate, 1495
– – HR 1474, Fair and Speedy Treatment (FAST) of Medicare Prescription Drug Claims Act, Berry (D-Ark) and Jones (R-NC), would require Part D payments to pharmacists within 14 days, costs estimated, 720; PBM opposes, 907
– – HR 1820, Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act. would permit employers to offer domestic partner benefits, N.Y. Bar Ass'n Tax Section supports, 240
– – HR 2205, Retirement Security for Life Act, Jones (D-Ohio) and English (R-Pa), would provide tax incentive for life annuities, 1070
– – HR 2419, Farm bill, two-week extension of existing agriculture policies signed, 1022; veto overridden, 1191; 1192
– – HR 2744, Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, would apply FMLA to aircrew, 1196
– – HR 2764, FY2008 federal funding, signed, 16; includes provisions on drug safety and reimportation, 28
– – HR 2772, Public Servant Retirement Protection Act, CRS reports, In Brief, 186
– – HR 3056, Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act, would end private debt collection program, House approves, 851
– – HR 3158, Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, CRS reports, In Brief, 187
– – HR 3185, Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act, Miller (D-Cal), committee vote planned, 835; Labor Dep't continues fee initiative, 838; House panel approves, 881; CRS summary, In Brief, 897; Senate inaction, passage unlikely, 1021; floor action possible in summer, 1190; discussed at conference, 1197; action in 2008 called unlikely, 1482
– – HR 3361, Pension Protection Act technical corrections, 15; House approves, 603; awaiting action, 1109
– – HR 3596, Charitable Tax Relief Act, CRS reports, 108
– – HR 3652, Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act, Conyers (D-Mich), changes to Ch. 11 urged at hearing, 1271
– – HR 3654, Securing America's Future Economy Commission Act (SAFE), Cooper (D-Tenn) and Wolf (R-Va), would create panel to consider entitlement limits, 283
– – HR 3799, Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2007, Maloney (D-NY), Davis (D-Ill), Hoyer (D-Md), Davis (R-Va), Miller (D-Cal), 558
– – HR 3963, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, expansion funded by tobacco tax, veto override fails, 233; Pelosi (D-Cal) says SCHIP a priority, 234
– – HR 3970, Tax Reduction and Reform Act, Rangel (D-NY), would extend fringe benefits tax exclusions, 108
– – HR 3996, Hold-harmless patch for alternative minimum tax, one-year extension of temporary tax provisions, signed, 16
– – HR 3997, Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act, would impose penalties to pay tax benefit for veterans, military personnel, and firefighters, Senate approves, 13
– – HR 4086, Healthy Families and Dedicated Teachers Tax Relief Act, CRS reports, 108
– – HR 4839, Tax Technical Corrections Act, makes corrections to most major tax laws enacted since 1998, 15
– – HR 4848, Mental health parity extension, House approves, 355
– – HR 5160, Small Business Add Value for Employees (SAVE) Act, Kind (D-Wis), would increase incentives for businesses that offer IRAs and 401(k) plans, 403
– – HR 5480, Medicare, White House proposal to reduce spending, S 2662 is companion, 518; CBO reports, 617
– – HR 5550, FEHBP, amendment would increase the maximum age to qualify for child coverage, 1029
– – HR 5573, Unused sick leave of federal employees, Moran (D-Va), would provide lump-sum payment for unused portion, 620
– – HR 5719, Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act, would end private debt collection program, 851; House panel approves, 862; House approves, 907
– – HR 5754, Employees' Pension Security Act, Visclosky (D-Ind), would provide more transparency and make termination harder, 894
– – HR 5781, Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, Maloney (D-NY), would provide four weeks parental leave and other benefits, House panel approves, 895; House approves, 1480
– – HR 5804, Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act, McDermott (D-Wash), would clarify contractor designations, 894
– – HR 5839, Safeguarding America's Pharmaceuticals Act, Matheson (D-Utah) and Buyer (R-Ind), would create drug tracking system, 977
– – HR 5845, Crime Victims Employment Leave Act, Emanuel (D-Ill), would extend FMLA benefits, 962
– – HR 5873, The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2008, Stark (D-Cal), would establish trust to cover percentage of salary during leave, 976
– – HR 5998, Protecting Children's Health Coverage Act, Pallonew (D-NJ) and Shea-Potter (D-NH), would block CMS SCHIP “crowd out” directive, 1073
– – HR 6025, Family-Friendly Workplace Act, Rodgers (R-Wash), would allow employers to offer paid time off as compensation for overtime, 1191
– – HR 6049, Energy and Tax Incentives Act, would extend tax provisions, House panel approves, 1112; cloture motion fails, 1389; CRS fact sheet, In Brief, 1398; vote unlikely before recess, 1480
– – HR 6081, Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act, treats foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms as U.S. employers for purposes of Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, provides tax relief for military families, 1481
– – HR 6111, Employee Misclassification Prevention Act, Andrews (D-NJ) and Woolsey (D-Cal), would stop employers from improperly classifying employees as “independent contractors,” 1187
– – HR 6143, Technical corrections to PPA, Andrews (D-NJ) and Miller (D-Cal), 1209
– – HR 6210, the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Act, Kind (D-Wis), would allow statewide or nationwide purchasing pools for small businesses, S 2795 is companion, 1400
– – HR 6275, Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act, provides relief to middle class taxpayers, 1484
– – HR 6283, Reimbursing Our American Drivers (ROAD) Act, Lewis (D-Ga.), would increase mileage rate for deductions, S 3032 is companion, 1483

– Senate

– – SConRes 70, FY2009 budget resolution, includes $300B in middle-class tax breaks, Senate approves, 610
– – S 358, Genetic nondiscrimination, Snowe (R-Me) and Kennedy (D-Mass), 906
– – S 558, Mental Health Parity Act, would require employers to offer same level of health coverage, business and patient avocates optimistic, 616; Kennedy (D-Mass) and Domenici (R-NM) offer compromise, 668; compromise urged, 719; Kennedy says agreement likely, 770; House plans counteroffer, 979; counterproposal offered, 1225; deal reached between House and Senate, 1495
– – S 819, Public Good IRA Rollover Act, CRS reports, 108
– – S 1419, Public Good IRA Rollover Act, CRS reports, 108
– – S 1556, Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, N.Y. Bar Ass'n Tax Section supports, 240
– – S 1647, Public Servant Retirement Protection Act, CRS reports, In Brief, 186
– – S 1693, Wired for Health Care Quality Act, Kennedy (D-Mass), would accelerate adoption of interoperable electronic health record systems, 772; headed to floor, 1131
– – S 1974, Pension Protection Act technical corrections, Baucus (D-Mont) and Grassley (R-Iowa) question delay in House, 15; awaiting congressional action, 1109
– – S 2063, Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action, Conrad (D-ND) and Gregg (R-NH), would create panel to examine entitlements, 283
– – S 2436, IRS commissioner term clarified, signed, 74
– – S 2499, Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act, approved by House, 28; signed, 79
– – S 2521, Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act, Lieberman (I-Conn), would provide benefits for federal workers, 18
– – S 2662, Medicare, White House proposal to reduce spending, HR 5480 is companion, 518; CBO reports, 617
– – S 2741, Disability Savings Act of 2008, Dodd (D-Conn), would create a tax-advantaged savings account, 618
– – S 2765, Saving Social Security Act, Hagel (R-Neb), would let workers 45 and younger to have individual accounts, 891
– – S 2794, Senior Investor Protection Act, Kohl (D-Wis) and Vitter (R-La), would give states more resources, 849
– – S 2795, the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Act, Durbin (D-Ill), would allow statewide or nationwide purchasing pools for small businesses, HR 6210 is companion, 1400
– – S 2878, Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Enforcement Act, Cornyn (R-Tex), would allow union members and Labor Dep't to seek civil monetary penalties against labor organizations that fail to make certain financial records available, 969
– – S 2886, Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act, House panel approves, 1112
– – S 2933, Incentives for Older Workers Act, would let employers who hire older workers receive tax credit, and would mitigate loss of retirement benefits to older workers who reduce their work hours, 1016
– – S 3032, Reimbursing Our American Drivers (ROAD) Act, Schumer (D-NY), would increase mileage rate for deductions, 1196; HR 6283 is companion, 1483
– – S 3032, Reimbursing Our American Drivers (ROAD) Act, Schumer (D-NY), would increase standard mileage rate for tax deduction, 1194
– – S 3098, Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act, Rangel (D-NY) to use carried interest as offset for patch, 1389
– – S 3098, Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act, would Rangel (D-NY) to use carried interest as offset for patch, 1389
– – S 3101, Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, Baucus (D-Mont), would cut managed care spending, 1405

LIFE INSURANCE

See also ACCIDENT BENEFITS
– ERISA, checkbooks issued to beneficiaries rather than lump-sum payments, no violations (D. Mass.), 622
– Fiduciary duty

– – Equitable relief denied to widow (U.S., brief sought), 576; brief filed, 1230; (brief filed), 1298
– – Estate has no remedy for breach that caused loss of coverage (W.D. Ark.), 629

– Full-time employee status improperly denied (D. Minn.), 584
– Increased benefits, policy amendment not in effect at time of death (W.D.N.Y.), 633
– Metropolitan Life participant failed to convert policy, widow denied benefits (D.N.J.), 141
– Mortality safe harbor, changes expected by 2009, 1196
– Qwest benefit reduction no ERISA violation (D. Colo.), 531
– Son not full-time student, benefit denied (E.D. Ky.), 1253
– Split-dollar arrangements

– – Guidance issued by IRS, 703
– – Information collection, In Brief, 854

– Suicide by cop (W.D.N.Y.), In Brief, 811
– Waiver box checked, benefits denied (N.D. Ga.), 90

LIVING WAGE

– L.A. living wage ordinance upheld (Cal.), 874

LMRA (LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT)

See COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

LONG-TERM CARE

– Limitations period, claim for benefits time-barred (E.D.N.Y.), 249
– Restructuring proposal offered by three organizations, 189

LOUISIANA

– PX employee plan is federal plan exempt from state income tax, La. official rules, 458