Pension Action

October 4, 2007

Pension Rights Center Testifies Before ERISA Advisory Council
Staff Attorney Rebecca Davis testified for the Pension Rights Center about the importance of individual benefit statements to employees, and the necessity for retirement plans to provide clear, concise, and timely information to pension plan participants. In her testimony before the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council Working Group on Participant Benefit Statements, Rebecca noted that “when these statements are confusing, they cause anxiety. When they are misleading or inaccurate, they can lead to disappointing, and often devastating, losses. When they are clear and correct, they provide peace of mind.”  Rebecca also provided examples illustrating how important it is for individuals to receive simple statements that accurately reflect their anticipated pension plan benefits. Rebecca’s testimony can be found in the Pension Policy Presentations section of our web site.

National PARC Training Conference Takes Place in Washington, D.C.
The Pension Rights Center’s National Pension Assistance Resource Center (National PARC) held its annual training conference for staff of Pension Counseling and Information Projects. The projects, funded primarily by the Administration on Aging, help employees and retirees access and understand information about their pension and retirement savings plans, and also assist with benefit claims and appeals. National PARC provides substantive training and legal back-up to the projects. The training featured experts from around the country speaking on recent litigation, legislation and client case studies. Participants in the training also had the opportunity to meet with officials from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures most private pensions, and representatives from other government agencies and DC law firms. This week the Administration on Aging awarded new grants for the Pension Counseling and Information Program. Read the press release announcing the new grants.

Conversation on Coverage Lauded in Two New Articles
The retirement income proposals generated by Center’s innovative Conversation on Coverage were featured in two recent trade publication articles. An Employee Benefit Plan Review article provides detailed summaries of the four plans developed by the initiative and includes comments by many of the experts who helped develop the proposals. A September article in Workforce Management offers an overview of the Conversation’s recommendations, which hold the promise of increasing the number of Americans covered by workplace retirement plans. Both articles can be found in the PRC in the News section of our web site.

PRC Participates in Workplace Giving Campaign for Federal Employees
For the first time, the Pension Rights Center is participating in the nationwide Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). This means that federal employees across the country – not only those in the Washington, D.C. area – can support the Center through their 2007 workplace giving campaigns. For those wishing to designate the Center as a donation recipient, the Center’s new CFC # is 12553.

In 2006, federal employees pledged more than $270 million to nonprofit organizations through the CFC, making it the world’s largest workplace charity drive.