Legislative/Executive
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February 14, 2018
Budget Deal With Stopgap Funding Signed Into Law
On February 9, 2018, the President signed into law a two-year budget compromise with six weeks of stopgap funding that ended a brief government shutdown. Both the House and Senate passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892) in the early hours of the same day. The vote counts in the chambers were 240-186 and 71-28, respectively. The bill will fund the federal government through March 23, 2018. It includes a temporary increase in the statutory debt ceiling, disaster relief, infrastructure funding, spending to combat opioid abuse, tax extenders, and changes to hardship withdrawals from retirement plans. In addition, it establishes a committee on multiemployer pension plans tasked with proposing legislation to address the increasing insolvency of multiemployer plans.
HR1892 is available here.
Other HR/Employment
Treasury Releases Proposed Repeal of Numerous Tax Regulations
On February 13, 2018, the Treasury Department proposed repealing 298 tax regulations that are “…unnecessary, duplicative or obsolete and force taxpayers to navigate needlessly complex or confusing rules.” President Trump issued an Executive Order on April 21, 2017, directing the Treasury to review the tax regulations.
According to the Treasury news release, the proposed regulations fall into three categories:
- Regulations interpreting provisions of the Code that have been repealed;
- Regulations interpreting provisions that have been significantly revised and the existing regulations do not account for these revisions; and
- Regulations that are no longer applicable.
The proposed regulations will be published in the February 15, 2018, Federal Register. Comments and request for a public hearing on the proposed regulations are due by May 14, 2018.
The news release is available here.
The proposed regulations are temporarily available here.
Aon Publications
Now Available: Retirement Legal Consulting and Compliance Quarterly Update
The Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance practice is pleased to present its Quarterly Update of recent legal developments and consulting opportunities for the first quarter of 2018. In this issue you will find the following articles:
- New Opportunity Regarding DC Plan Loans
- Tax Reform May Require Review of Plan Compensation
- Fiduciary Breach—Court Orders Comparison of Fund Returns to Calculate Damages
- Qualified Plans—2017 Required Amendments List
- PBGC Expands Missing Participant Program
- New Disability Claims Procedure Rule Is Back
- Regulatory Compliance Is Key for Plan Sponsors
- Quarterly Roundup of Other Developments
The first quarter 2018 issue of the Retirement Legal Consulting & Compliance Quarterly Update is available here.