text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Pension Right to Know Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR LARGE PENSION PLANS SIGNIFICANTLY 
                REDUCING FUTURE PENSION BENEFIT ACCRUALS.
  
      (a) Plan Requirement.--Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 
  of 1986 (relating to qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus 
  plans) is amended by inserting after paragraph (34) the following new 
  paragraph:
              ``(35) Notice requirements for large defined benefit plans 
          significantly reducing future benefit accruals.--
                      ``(A) In general.--If a large defined benefit plan 
                  adopts an amendment which has the effect of 
                  significantly reducing the rate of future benefit 
                  accrual of 1 or more participants, a trust which is 
                  part of such plan shall not constitute a qualified 
                  trust under this section unless, after adoption of such 
                  amendment and not less than 15 days before its 
                  effective date, the plan administrator provides--
                              ``(i) a written statement of benefit change 
                          described in subparagraph (B) to each 
                          applicable individual, and
                              ``(ii) a written notice setting forth the 
                          plan amendment and its effective date to each 
                          employee organization representing participants 
                          in the plan.
                  Any such notice may be provided to a person designated, 
                  in writing, by the person to which it would otherwise 
                  be provided. The plan administrator shall not be 
                  treated as failing to meet the requirements of this 
                  subparagraph merely because the statement or notice is 
                  provided before the adoption of the plan amendment if 
                  no material modification of the amendment occurs before 
                  the amendment is adopted.
                      ``(B) Statement of benefit change.--A statement of 
                  benefit change described in this subparagraph shall--
                              ``(i) be written in a manner calculated to 
                          be understood by the average plan participant, 
                          and
                              ``(ii) include the information described in 
                          subparagraph (C).
                      ``(C) Information contained in statement of benefit 
                  change.--The information described in this subparagraph 
                  includes the following:
                              ``(i) Notice setting forth the plan 
                          amendment and its effective date.
                              ``(ii) A comparison of the following 
                          amounts under the plan with respect to an 
                          applicable individual, determined both with and 
                          without regard to the plan amendment:
                                      ``(I) The accrued benefit and the 
                                  present value of the accrued benefit as 
                                  of the effective date.
                                      ``(II) The projected accrued 
                                  benefit and the projected present value 
                                  of the accrued benefit as of the date 
                                  which is 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years 
                                  from the effective date and as of the 
                                  normal retirement age.
                              ``(iii) A table of all annuity factors used 
                          to calculate benefits under the plan, presented 
                          in the form provided in section 72 and the 
                          regulations thereunder.
                  Benefits described in clause (ii) shall be stated 
                  separately and shall be calculated by using the 
                  applicable mortality table and the applicable interest 
                  rate under section 417(e)(3)(A).
                      ``(D) Large defined benefit plan; applicable 
                  individual.--For purposes of this paragraph--
                              ``(i) Large defined benefit plan.--The term 
                          `large defined benefit plan' means any defined 
                          benefit plan which had 1,000 or more 
                          participants who had accrued a benefit under 
                          the plan (whether or not vested) as of the last 
                          day of the plan year preceding the plan year in 
                          which the plan amendment becomes effective.
                              ``(ii) Applicable individual.--The term 
                          `applicable individual' means--
                                      ``(I) each participant in the plan, 
                                  and
                                      ``(II) each beneficiary who is an 
                                  alternate payee (within the meaning of 
                                  section 414(p)(8)) under an applicable 
                                  qualified domestic relations order 
                                  (within the meaning of section 
                                  414(p)(1)(A)).
                      ``(E) Accrued benefit; projected retirement 
                  benefit.--For purposes of this paragraph--
                              ``(i) Present value of accrued benefit.--
                          The present value of an accrued benefit of any 
                          applicable individual shall be calculated as if 
                          the accrued benefit were in the form of a 
                          single life annuity commencing at the 
                          participant's normal retirement age (and by 
                          taking into account any early retirement 
                          subsidy).
                              ``(ii) Projected accrued benefit.--
                                      ``(I) In general.--The projected 
                                  accrued benefit of any applicable 
                                  individual shall be calculated as if 
                                  the benefit were payable in the form of 
                                  a single life annuity commencing at the 
                                  participant's normal retirement age 
                                  (and by taking into account any early 
                                  retirement subsidy).
                                      ``(II) Compensation and other 
                                  assumptions.--Such benefit shall be 
                                  calculated by assuming that 
                                  compensation and all other benefit 
                                  factors would increase for each plan 
                                  year beginning after the effective date 
                                  of the plan amendment at a rate equal 
                                  to the median average of the CPI 
                                  increase percentage (as defined in 
                                  section 215(i) of the Social Security 
                                  Act) for the 5 calendar years 
                                  immediately preceding the calendar year 
                                  before the calendar year in which such 
                                  effective date occurs.
                                      ``(III) Benefit factors.--For 
                                  purposes of subclause (II), the term 
                                  `benefit factors' means social security 
                                  benefits and all other relevant factors 
                                  under section 411(b)(1)(A) used to 
                                  compute benefits under the plan which 
                                  had increased from the 2d plan year 
                                  preceding the plan year in which the 
                                  effective date of the plan amendment 
                                  occurs to the 1st such preceding plan 
                                  year.
                              ``(iii) Normal retirement age.--The term 
                          `normal retirement age' means the later of--
                                      ``(I) the date determined under 
                                  section 411(a)(8), or
                                      ``(II) the date a plan participant 
                                  attains age 62.''
      (b) Amendments to ERISA.--
              (1) Benefit statement requirement.--Section 204(h) of the 
          Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
          1054(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
          paragraphs:
              ``(3)(A) If paragraph (1) applies to the adoption of a plan 
          amendment by a large defined benefit plan, the plan 
          administrator shall, after adoption of such amendment and not 
          less than 15 days before its effective date, provide with the 
          notice under paragraph (1) a written statement of benefit 
          change described in subparagraph (B) to each applicable 
          individual.
              ``(B) A statement of benefit change described in this 
          subparagraph shall--
                      ``(i) be written in a manner calculated to be 
                  understood by the average plan participant, and
                      ``(ii) include the information described in 
                  subparagraph (C).
              ``(C) The information described in this subparagraph 
          includes the following:
                      ``(i) A comparison of the following amounts under 
                  the plan with respect to an applicable individual, 
                  determined both with and without regard to the plan 
                  amendment:
                              ``(I) The accrued benefit and the present 
                          value of the accrued benefit as of the 
                          effective date.
                              ``(II) The projected accrued benefit and 
                          the projected present value of the accrued 
                          benefit as of the date which is 3 years, 5 
                          years, and 10 years from the effective date and 
                          as of the normal retirement age.
                      ``(ii) A table of all annuity factors used to 
                  calculate benefits under the plan, presented in the 
                  form provided in section 72 of the Internal Revenue 
                  Code of 1986 and the regulations thereunder.
          Benefits described in clause (i) shall be stated separately and 
          shall be calculated by using the applicable mortality table and 
          the applicable interest rate under section 417(e)(3)(A) of such 
          Code.
              ``(D) For purposes of this paragraph--
                      ``(i) The term `large defined benefit plan' means 
                  any defined benefit plan which had 1,000 or more 
                  participants who had accrued a benefit under the plan 
                  (whether or not vested) as of the last day of the plan 
                  year preceding the plan year in which the plan 
                  amendment becomes effective.
                      ``(ii) The term `applicable individual' means an 
                  individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
                  paragraph (1).
              ``(E) For purposes of this paragraph--
                      ``(i) The present value of an accrued benefit of 
                  any applicable individual shall be calculated as if the 
                  accrued benefit were in the form of a single life 
                  annuity commencing at the participant's normal 
                  retirement age (and by taking into account any early 
                  retirement subsidy).
                      ``(ii)(I) The projected accrued benefit of any 
                  applicable individual shall be calculated as if the 
                  benefit were payable in the form of a single life 
                  annuity commencing at the participant's normal 
                  retirement age (and by taking into account any early 
                  retirement subsidy).
                      ``(II) Such benefit shall be calculated by assuming 
                  that compensation and all other benefit factors would 
                  increase for each plan year beginning after the 
                  effective date of the plan amendment at a rate equal to 
                  the median average of the CPI increase percentage (as 
                  defined in section 215(i) of the Social Security Act) 
                  for the 5 calendar years immediately preceding the 
                  calendar year before the calendar year in which such 
                  effective date occurs.
                      ``(III) For purposes of subclause (II), the term 
                  `benefit factors' means social security benefits and 
                  all other relevant factors under section 204(b)(1)(A) 
                  used to compute benefits under the plan which had 
                  increased from the 2d plan year preceding the plan year 
                  in which the effective date of the plan amendment 
                  occurs to the 1st such preceding plan year.
                      ``(iii) The term `normal retirement age' means the 
                  later of--
                              ``(I) the date determined under section 
                          3(24), or
                              ``(II) the date a plan participant attains 
                          age 62.
              ``(4) A plan administrator shall not be treated as failing 
          to meet the requirements of this subsection merely because the 
          notice or statement is provided before the adoption of the plan 
          amendment if no material modification of the amendment occurs 
          before the amendment is adopted.''
              (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 204(h)(1) of such Act 
          (29 U.S.C. 1054(h)(1)) is amended by inserting ``(including any 
          written statement of benefit change if required by paragraph 
          (3))'' after ``written notice''.
      (c) Effective Dates.--
              (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
          apply to plan amendments taking effect in plan years beginning 
          on or after the earlier of--
                      (A) the later of--
                              (i) January 1, 1999, or
                              (ii) the date on which the last of the 
                          collective bargaining agreements pursuant to 
                          which the plan is maintained terminates 
                          (determined without regard to any extension 
                          thereof after the date of the enactment of this 
                          Act), or
                      (B) January 1, 2001.
              (2) Exception where notice given.--The amendments made by 
          this section shall not apply to any plan amendment for which 
          written notice was given to participants or their 
          representatives before March 17, 1999, without regard to 
          whether the amendment was adopted before such date.
              (3) Special rule.--The period for providing any notice 
          required by, or any notice the contents of which are changed 
          by, the amendments made by this Act shall not end before the 
          date which is 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
          Act.
target: Pension Right to Know Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to set forth notice requirements for large pension plans which significantly reduce future benefit accruals.
feat_title: Pension Right to Know Act