EBSA Press Release: ERISA Advisory Council Working Groups to Hold Organizational Meetings in May [04/24/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, better known as the ERISA Advisory Council, has formed three working groups, which will hold public organizational meetings May 4 and 5 to determine what course they will take with their new study issues for 1998. All sessions will take place in Conference Room N-4437 C&D at the U.S. Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

Meeting from 9:30 a.m. until noon on Monday, May 4, will be the subcommittee set to study disclosure of information on the quality of health care plans. Heading the group are Judith Mazo, senior vice president/director of research for the Segal Company, and Neil M. Grossman, William M. Mercer Company, both based in Washington.

From 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. on May 4, the Working Group on Small Business: How to Enhance and Encourage the Establishment of Pension Plans will convene, under the leadership of Dr. Thomas J. Mackell Jr., executive vice president of Simms Capital Management, Inc., Greenwich, Conn., and Eddie C. Brown, president of Brown Capital Management of Baltimore, Md.

Set to meet from 9:30 until noon on Tuesday, May 5, are members of the newly-formed work group on pre-retirement distributions, including in-service distributions and participant loans from employer-sponsored pension plans, known in the pension benefits community as "leakage." Named as chair and vice chair, respectively, were Barbara Ann Uberti, vice president of the Wilmington Trust Company of Wilmington, Del., and Michael R. Fanning, chief executive officer of the Central Pension Fund International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers, Washington.

All three groups will begin taking testimony on their subjects, it is hoped, at their first meetings. The groups will be meeting periodically for the next six months and plan on presenting their findings to the Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman by the full Council's final meeting, which has been set for Nov. 13.

Individuals or organizations wishing to address the individual working groups should submit 20 copies of a written statement before May 1 to Sharon Morrissey, executive secretary, ERISA Advisory Council, U.S. Department of Labor, Suite N-5677, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20210. Oral presentations are limited to 10 minutes but witnesses may submit extended statements for the record.

Members of the public who do not wish to testify before the individual groups, but who want their statements included as part of the official proceedings may submit 20 copies of their statements to the above address. Individuals with disabilities, who wish to attend the sessions and need special accommodations, should also contact the department by May 1 at the address above.

The Advisory Council is a bipartisan group of 15 members appointed by the Secretary of Labor to represent a wide range of interests in the employee benefits area. The council advises and makes recommendations to the secretary on the administration of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).   

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.