Pension Policy

The Pension Rights Center's staff has given numerous speeches, presentations, and testimony on pension policy. Below are the most recent policy presentations on important issues in pension policy. You may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these presentations.

• September 24, 2008: Senior Policy Adviser Norman Stein submitted comments [PDF] on behalf of the Pension Rights Center to the IRS and the Department of Treasury on cash balance accruals. Earlier this year, the Center sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Paulson on this topic.

• September 17, 2008: Board member Olena Berg Lacy testified [PDF] on the Center's behalf on improving the disclosure of 401(k) fees at a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. You can watch a video of the hearing on the Committee's web site (proceedings begin 18 minutes into the video).

• September 10, 2008: PRC Staff Attorney Rebecca Davis gave a presentation [PDF] as part of a webinar called "Planning for the Future: What Working Women Need to Know about Social Security and Retirement Savings." The National Women's Law Center sponsored this free webinar.

• July 16, 2008: The Pension Rights Center's statement [PDF] to the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging for its hearing on "Saving Smartly for Retirement: Are Americans Being Encouraged to Break Open the Piggy Bank?"
  
  
• June 5, 2008: Policy Director Karen Friedman's testimony [PDF] on the "Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act of 2007" before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  
  
• November 8, 2007: Professor Norman Stein's testimony [PDF] on behalf of the Conversation on Coverage (a PRC initiative) at a Congressional hearing on "Securing Retirement Coverage for Future Generations."

• October 30, 2007: Professor Norman Stein's testimony [PDF] on behalf of the Pension Rights Center at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the appropriateness of retirement plan fees.

• September 18, 2007: PRC Staff Attorney Rebecca Davis's testimony [PDF] before the ERISA Advisory Council Working Group on Participant Benefit Statements.

• June 28, 2007: Karen Friedman's speech on the introduction of S. 1725, the Restoring Pension Promises to Workers Act of 2007.

• May 9, 2006: Karen Friedman's speech at the IRS-ASPPA Mid-Atlantic Benefits Conference.
  
  
• February 27, 2006: Karen Friedman's statement at “Disintegrating Pensions National Crisis: Call to Action” News Forum.
  
  
• July 20, 2005: Karen Friedman's remarks [PDF] on hybrid plans at AARP's US-UK Dialogue on Pensions.
  
  
• July 6, 2005: John's Hotz's statement [PDF] on "Communications to Retirement Plan Participants" presented to the Labor Department's ERISA Advisory Council.