WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today recommended that better monitoring and reporting requirements are needed to protect pension plans covering 10.4 million current and future retirees participating in multiemployer plans.
“Congress and the Obama administration must work together to address the significant problems GAO raised in order to protect retirees and the nation’s taxpayers,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. “With millions of families’ retirement security dependent on these plans, it is vital that federal agencies have timely information to assess the health of multiemployer plans.”
“Congress and the Obama administration must work together to address the significant problems GAO raised in order to protect retirees and the nation’s taxpayers,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. “With millions of families’ retirement security dependent on these plans, it is vital that federal agencies have timely information to assess the health of multiemployer plans.”
GAO found that government regulators lack sufficient and timely information on the financial health of multiemployer pension plans. For instance, plans are required to file annual financial reports with the IRS, Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). However, GAO discovered that all plans do not file with all agencies, agencies do not share information they do receive, and forms filed with Labor and PBGC use data that may be up to two years old.
“As a result, federal officials told us that their agencies are limited in their ability to assess the current and recent health of multiemployer plans,” the GAO concluded.
Two out of three of multiemployer pension plans had funding liability issues in 2009, triple the percentage of plans a year before, the GAO also reported. While the GAO expects the financial health of some of the plans to recover when the economy improves, many plans will still face problems as the result of changing demographics in industries where these plans are common.
The government watchdog group recommended that Congress consider the elimination of duplicative reporting requirements and establish a shared database among agencies. GAO also asked that PBGC, IRS and Department of Labor improve data collection and monitoring of multiemployer pension plans.
Multiemployer pension plans cover employees in industries with workers who change jobs frequently such as the construction, trucking, retail, food and mining. Rather than one company running a pension plan, in multiemployer plans, several companies band together in a particular industry to offer benefits to their workers.
“As a result, federal officials told us that their agencies are limited in their ability to assess the current and recent health of multiemployer plans,” the GAO concluded.
Two out of three of multiemployer pension plans had funding liability issues in 2009, triple the percentage of plans a year before, the GAO also reported. While the GAO expects the financial health of some of the plans to recover when the economy improves, many plans will still face problems as the result of changing demographics in industries where these plans are common.
The government watchdog group recommended that Congress consider the elimination of duplicative reporting requirements and establish a shared database among agencies. GAO also asked that PBGC, IRS and Department of Labor improve data collection and monitoring of multiemployer pension plans.
Multiemployer pension plans cover employees in industries with workers who change jobs frequently such as the construction, trucking, retail, food and mining. Rather than one company running a pension plan, in multiemployer plans, several companies band together in a particular industry to offer benefits to their workers.
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