H.R. 2958 — Balance the Scales Act

This section amends Section 504 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1134), which authorizes the Secretary of Labor to investigate potential violations of ERISA rules governing private-sector employee benefit plans (i.e., pensions and health plans), by adding subsection (f). Prior to providing "adverse assistance" (i.e., assistance or advice, including disclosure of investigative information under subsection (a), directed specifically to an attorney for use in a civil enforcement action under ERISA Section 502(a)) to an individual, the Secretary must (1) enter into a written agreement with the individual detailing the nature and scope of the assistance, and (2) provide a copy of the agreement to any employer, plan sponsor, or fiduciary directly and adversely impacted. (Thus, this promotes transparency to potentially affected plan parties.) The Secretary must submit to Congress a report not later than 60 days after enactment and by December 31 of each year thereafter covering agreements in effect during the preceding fiscal year. Each report must include, for every agreement, (1) a redacted copy; (2) the agreement date; (3) a detailed description of assistance provided, including shared information (source, type, amount, date), logs of verbal communications (date, parties, mode, information shared), and logs of meetings (date, parties present, mode, purpose, information shared); and (4) an explanation of the agreement's consistency with the public policy of promoting voluntary sponsorship of ERISA plans. Reports identify agreement parties but redact information identifying others (e.g., employers, fiduciaries). The amendments apply to adverse assistance provided on or after enactment. For existing arrangements, compliance within 60 days after enactment deems the requirements satisfied prior to provision of assistance.

This section amends Section 2 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by adding a new subsection (d) finding that the retirement security of millions of employees and their dependents is directly impacted by the voluntary sponsorship and maintenance of pension plans and declaring it the policy of ERISA to promote, encourage, and facilitate the voluntary establishment, maintenance, and contribution to such plans. (As background, Section 2 sets forth Congress's findings on the interstate commerce impact of employee benefit plans, including pensions, and ERISA's purpose of establishing minimum standards for their protection.)