Lawmakers approve new bill to tighten rules for employers

The debate was sharply partisan and at times bitter.
Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- The House approved a bill Thursday to strengthen the nation's private pension system, toughening funding requirements on employers who operate the plans and boosting payments that companies must make to the government's pension insurance agency.
Proponents said new rules are needed both to ensure that companies keep the promises they make to workers with their pension plans, and to protect taxpayers, who may be asked to cover the shortfall if poorly funded pensions fail.
Critics -- mostly Democrats but also some business groups -- said the bill would make traditional pensions more expensive and their cash demands unpredictable, causing more companies to drop them in favor of 401(k) and similar plans.
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee and a key sponsor of the legislation, acknowledged those criticisms on the House floor but called the bill "a finely tuned balance" between the need for adequate funding and giving employers the flexibility they need to keep their pensions.
The 294 to 132 vote followed a largely partisan and at times bitter debate triggered by the House Republican leadership's decision to bring the measure to the floor under a rule forbidding amendments.