§1142 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans

Summary

Create an advisory council of 15 people, picked by the Secretary, to give advice about employee welfare and pension plans. No more than eight members can be from the same political party. Members must be able to review these programs. The group must include three employee representatives (at least one from an organization with members in a multiemployer plan), three employer representatives (at least one from employers in multiemployer plans), three public members (one who represents pension beneficiaries), and one person each from insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management, and accounting. Members serve three-year terms, with the first group staggered so five serve one year, five serve two years, and five serve three years. Members can be reappointed and fill vacancies only for the rest of the term. A majority is a quorum and decisions need a majority vote. The council must meet at least four times a year and must give recommendations to the Secretary, who must include them in his annual report. The Secretary provides staff and can get data from other agencies. Members are paid the daily equivalent of the GS-18 annual rate for days worked and get travel pay and per diem like intermittent federal workers (see 5 U.S.C. 5703(b)). The council is not subject to the automatic termination rule in 5 U.S.C. 1013(a).