Democrats hope to undo bipartisan 2014 fix for troubled pension plans

One of the top items on Democrats’ agenda in the next Congress is saving multiemployer pension plans, an effort that will include trying to undo the last major reform: a bipartisan, union-backed 2014 law called as the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act.

The 2014 law was a concession to economic realities. It allowed pension plan trustees to reduce recipients’ payments, which was previously prohibited, so troubled plans could restructure and survive. Then-Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., a staunch union ally, coauthored it, and major unions such as the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers backed it. It ultimately passed as part of that year’s omnibus spending bill.