How best to resolve the cash balance pension controversy is
perhaps the greatest source of uncertainty affecting the future of the
defined benefit plan system. A rational solution that promotes the
health of the pension system is unlikely to emerge from the courts, but
must be enacted by Congress. At the core of the legislation would be an
essential quid pro quo, giving older workers substantial protection from
the adverse effects of conversion from traditional defined benefit to
hybrid plans, while providing that hybrid plans are lawful and affording
employers reasonable flexibility to change their plans and reasonable
certainty regarding the applicable rules.