Letter to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker

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December 7, 2005

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

On behalf of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), we urge you to schedule a floor vote and pass H.R. 2830, the “Pension Protection Act of 2005.”

ASPPA is a national society of retirement plan professionals. ASPPA’s mission is to educate pension professionals and to preserve and enhance the private pension system. Its membership consists of almost 6,000 actuaries, plan administrators, attorneys, CPAs and other retirement plan experts who design, implement and maintain qualified retirement plans covering tens of millions of American workers.

H.R. 2830 provides comprehensive pension reform by strengthening funding for the defined benefit plan system. In particular, a provision in H.R. 2830 clarifies the legality of the cash balance plan design. Providing clarification of the cash balance design would allow employers, who are reluctant to currently provide such plans because of the legal uncertainties, to provide guaranteed benefits to their workers, thus providing them with much needed retirement security. It also makes permanent the retirement plan provision included in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTTRA), which is critically important to the continued growth of the employer-provided retirement system. Finally, H.R. 2830 would allow employers increased deductions into their defined benefit plans, helping ensure that their plans are adequately funded.

The employer-sponsored retirement system allows employers to establish and maintain retirement plans for millions of workers, which has proven to be the most efficient and effective way for employers to provide retirement security to their workers. We ask that Congress continue to support the retirement system by passing this legislation as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Brian H. Graff, Esq., APM
Executive Director/CEO