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Pension Vote Unlikely In House In '05
Reuters
December 7, 2005
Acting majority leader says Democratic opposition is preventing bill from coming to floor.
Legislation to shore up traditional pensions is unlikely to come to the floor of the U.S. House this year, acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt said, blaming Democratic opposition for the delay.
"We're going to have to have some Democrats step forward," Blunt told reporters in a briefing Tuesday. "If it does happen I think we could bring a pension bill to the floor, and if it doesn't, we'll do that when we get back next year."
The Missouri Republican thought there was "really no likelihood" the bill would be voted on this year.
The measure is aimed at reducing underfunding in traditional "defined benefit" pension plans -- which have a fixed payout at retirement -- and shoring up the deficit-ridden federal agency that insures them.
The House version of the legislation also encourages employers that offer a different kind of retirement vehicle, known as the 401(k) plan, to automatically enroll workers.
A bipartisan version of the pension bill has passed the Senate overwhelmingly, but the House bill, by Ohio Republican John Boehner and California Republican Bill Thomas, has yet to be brought to a vote.
House Democrats said Tuesday they would be urging their members to vote against the pension bill when it did come up, and poured scorn on Blunt's remarks.
"The Republicans are admitting defeat for this year," said California Rep. George Miller, the ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee that Boehner chairs.
But Boehner's spokesman, Kevin Smith, insisted Republicans had the votes for the measure in the House where Republicans enjoy a majority of 230 of the 435 seats.
"We're confident we have the votes to pass this bill, and we believe it should be scheduled as soon as possible," Smith said.
Lawmakers have been getting mixed signals from the business community on the pension legislation. Business says it wants pension reform enacted, but companies worried about proposed new funding requirements have sought to modify them.
Meanwhile, some labor groups, a traditional constituency of Democrats, have criticized the legislation. The United Auto Workers says the House bill could freeze pension benefits of the Big Three U.S. automakers -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.
The Republican Bush administration is unhappy with both the House and Senate versions of the legislation, saying they don't help the near-term financial situation of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. that insures pensions.
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