A few days ago, I traveled to Washington to represent GM retirees at the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) Fly-In, a 3 day event organized by the NRLN.

As a coordinated effort, we met with more than 100 lawmakers during the first two days, including Representatives and Senators and their staff members, reviewing our shared concerns about pension protection and retiree health care. We represented 10 retiree organizations from 19 different states, along with 66 NRLN grassroots network members.

The timing for our visits could not have been better. Many of the legislators had just returned from town hall meetings in their home districts where they received some level of education on retiree benefit concerns. Our well-presented and organized case for retiree issues was favorably received. We left packages of information at each office we visited to document our concerns and detail solutions.

The third day was spent with the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) getting better educated on pension asset protection, bankruptcy reform, and how pension benefits are calculated when the PBGC assumes responsibility for a troubled pension plan. This was a highly informative and valuable part of the trip.

The PBGC process is terribly complex so I won't even attempt to explain it here. Let me just summarize by saying that the GM salaried pension fund was funded at 95% as of December 31, 2008. However, this calculation was based on standards set by the IRS and ERISA. If the PBGC were to value the GM salaried pension fund they would use a totally different method, resulting in a much lower valuation.

While the 95% funding level, especially in these economic times, would appear to be just fine, it is common practice for companies in financial difficulty to avoid funding their pension plans or to divert capital from the pension fund for re-structuring costs or other purposes. Sometimes the underfunding may not affect the PBGC's liability, but it usually does affect the benefits paid to retirees by the PBGC if the plan is terminated.

We continue to remain vigilant in this area. Pension asset protection and health care benefits for retirees are high priorities for us and we will continue to closely monitor both during the coming year.

We'll stay close with updates on new developments.