Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House passed version is repeated here.)

Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act - (Sec. 2) Declares that: (1) defined benefit pension plans are a cost-effective way for cooperative associations and charities to provide their employees with economic security in retirement, (2) many cooperative associations and charitable organizations are only able to provide their employees with defined benefit pension plans because those organizations are able to pool their resources using the multiple employer plan structure, and (3) the pension funding rules should encourage cooperative associations and charities to continue to provide their employees with pension benefits.

(Sec. 3) Makes this Act generally applicable to years beginning after December 31, 2013.

Title I: Amendments to Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and Other Provisions - (Sec. 101) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to define a "cooperative and small employer charity pension plan" (CSEC pension plan), for purposes of this Act, as an employee pension benefit plan that is a defined benefit pension plan: (1) to which certain provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 apply; or (2) that, as of June 25, 2010, was maintained by more than one employer all of whom were tax-exempt charitable organizations.

(Sec. 102) Establishes minimum funding standards for CSEC pension plans. Allows a CSEC plan that uses a funding method that requires contributions in all years to maintain an alternative minimum funding standard account for any plan year.

Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to extend an amortization of any unfunded liability of a CSEC pension plan for up to 10 years if the Secretary determines that: (1) such extension would carry out the purposes of this Act and would provide adequate protection for plan participants and their beneficiaries, and (2) failure to permit such extension would result in a substantial risk to the voluntary continuation of the plan or a substantial curtailment of pension benefit levels or employee compensation.

The summary continues for 9 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on April 7, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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