In a previous post here this week, I discussed the Sanders amendment which was passed by the House on Tuesday and added to the Fiscal 2004 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Bill. The Amendment would prohibit any funds in the bill from being used to assist in overturning the IBM cash balance plan decision handed down by the federal district court of Southern Illinois last summer. One comment made on the House floor in support of the amendment: ” . . we should not mess with this. . . I do not think the Congress should be messing with this. I do not think the administration should be messing with this. I think this should be left to the courts.” (The House member quoted also called the cash balance plan controversy an “explosive political issue.”)
Ironically, in a CNBC interview with Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner entitled “Richard Posner discusses his position on law, pragmatism and democracy” on Monday, July 28th (prior to the issuance of the opinion in the Xerox case, Berger et al. v. Xerox, which was written by Judge Posner) Mario Bartiromo for CNBC asked Judge Posner about his views regarding employees suing pension funds over reduced payments. His response was that with all of the litigation and all of the “detailed regulations of pension funds,” Congress might have to “step in at some point and change the rules.” Interestingly enough, as mentioned here before, Judge Posner may end up being one of the judges who will decide the appeal in Cooper et al. v. IBM Personal Pension Plan et al. since the case will go to the Seventh Circuit on appeal.
Well, it seems that Congress would like the courts to unravel the mess, and perhaps the feeling of some judges is that Congress should unravel the mess . . .
Towers Perrin has called on Congress to unravel it in this press release: “Towers Perrin Calls for Legislative Clarity for Cash Balance Plans.” Quote of Note:”It is in everyone’s interest for there to be clarity with respect to the rules governing cash balance plans. For years, the private pension system in the U.S. has been a key pillar of retirement security for millions of Americans. Confusion around the appropriate guidelines for the design of cash balance plans can only undermine private pensions and threaten this security . . .We believe that Congress should act immediately to clarify the past and future status of these plans.”