National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Guarantee Act of 2005
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 276.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Guarantee Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to revise and establish requirements relating to pension plans, including plan funding, limitations on benefits which underfunded plans may provide, diversification of assets, and worker access to and information about their plans.
Title I: Diversification Rights and Other Participant Protections under Defined Contribution Plans - (Sec. 101) Requires defined contribution plans holding publicly-traded employer securities to allow participants and certain beneficiaries to divest employer stock and diversify their pension asset investments.
(Sec. 102) Requires notice of such freedom to divest employer securities or real property.
(Sec. 103) Requires periodic pension benefit statements.
(Sec. 104) Requires notice to participants or beneficiaries of blackout periods (temporary suspensions of participant or beneficiary ability to direct or diversify assets or obtain loans or distributions).
(Sec. 105) Allows eligible individuals to make, and receive credit for, additional IRA payments in certain cases of employer bankruptcy.
Title II: Information to Assist Pension Plan Participants - (Sec. 201) Amends ERISA and IRC to require defined contribution plans to provide adequate investment education to participants and beneficiaries with the right to direct investments in their individual account plans, by providing basic guidelines for investing for retirement. Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop a model form containing such guidelines.
(Sec. 202) Sets forth IRC and ERISA requirements for material information relating to investment in employer securities.
(Sec. 203) Requires the provision of independent investment advice to plan participants and beneficiaries under ERISA.
(Sec. 204) Prescribes IRC rules for treatment of qualified retirement planning services.
(Sec. 205) Authorizes the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Labor to prescribe rules applicable to certain statements required under IRC and ERISA provisions added by this Act.
The summary continues for 89 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 "Reported to Senate without amendment" stage on November 2, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 2, 2005: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 276.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced it on November 2, 2005. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 2, 2005, 7617 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7617 days ago, on November 2, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers