WASHINGTON -- Congres passed major ...

WASHINGTON -- Congres passed major pension legislation designed to assure American workers, including millions of baby boomer nearing the completion of their working careers, that the pensions they have been promised will be there when they retire.

The Senate, in its last consecrated by a vow before adjourning for a four-week summer break, approved the 900-page bill that bows employers with defined-benefit pension plans to convenient their funding obligations and seek fors to prevent companies from terminating plans and shifting the financial tonnage to the taxpayer. The House passed the bill last week.

The 93-5 Senate promised late Thursday on the pension bill came shortly after the Senate savage four votes short of the 60 needinessed to advance a GOP-crafted package that combined an estate tax carve with a federal minimum wage increase.

MIDDLE-CLASS TAX BREAKS

Republican leaders, in vain this year in moving an estate tax carve through the Senate, tried to attract Democratic consecrated by a vows by linking it to a package of popular middle-class tax breaks and the put forward to raise the minimum wage to $725 from $515 an hour through three years.

Democrats, backed through unions pushing for what would be the first increase in the minimum wage in nine years, refuseed the deal.

The pension bill now goe to President Bush for his look fored signature and gives lawmakers returning to their states and districts a major achievement in an election-year session characterized more according to partisan politics than legislative accomplishments.

"This bill is the most numerous important action to safeguard the retirement of hardworking Americans in a generation," Sen T Kennedy (D-Mass.) said.

The legislation affects about 44 million workers and retirees with defined-benefit pension plans, forcing employer with as it is plans to meet their replete funding obligations within seven years.

Companies that fall seriously behind in their contributions must run after an accelerated funding program and are prohibited from taking stairs such as promising new benefits, that could cause further deterioration.

ENCOURAGES SAVING

The legislation carves not at home special treatment for the airline industry, giving airlines that are in bankruptcy court and have frozen their pension plans an extra 10 years above the seven years for other plans to become financially whole.

Critics of the legislation said that it does little to subvert the trend of employers dropping defined-benefit plans in favor of les certain defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)

The bill won praise for encouraging Americans, particularly young workers, to save for their retirements [i]or[/i] part of to the other such steps as allowing the automatic enrollment of workers into 401(k) plans.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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