On April 15, Professor Norman Stein was quoted in a Law360 article on the possibility of bipartisan support for the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2020, a proposal that would help to protect union pension funds during the current economic upheaval.

Stein argued that President Donald Trump’s reported approval of the proposal may encourage Republican Senators to back it. “The president has a lot of influence with people in his party,” Stein said. Bipartisan support is also likely in the House, Stein stated.

A coalition of unions, retirement fund groups and activists asked Congressional leaders to include the proposal, created by Senate Democrats, in upcoming relief legislation. The proposal would protect union pension plans by allowing failing pension providers to more easily transfer liabilities to federally chartered corporation Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which would receive money from the federal government to handle these liabilities.

Union pension plans were in crisis prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic and related market collapse, the crisis has deepened, and without some form of legislation, millions of Americans’ pension plans could be at risk.

Professor Stein is a nationally recognized authority on pension law, employee benefits and tax law. In addition to producing a rich body of scholarship, he is actively involved in policy development and testifies frequently before Congress.