EFFECTIVE DATE.

SEC. 105. EFFECTIVE DATE. (a) In General.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, this title and the amendments made by this title shall apply only to— (1) any employee benefit established or modified on or after the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) other conduct occurring more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Collectively Bargained Agreements.—With respect to any employee benefits provided in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement— (1) that is in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act; (2) that terminates after such date of enactment; (3) any provision of which was entered into by a labor organization (as defined by section 6(d)(4) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)(4))); and (4) that contains any provision that would be superseded (in whole or part) by this title and the amendments made by this title, but for the operation of this section, this title and the amendments made by this title shall not apply until the termination of such collective bargaining agreement or June 1,1992, whichever occurs first. (c) States and Political Subdivisions.— (1) In general.—With respect to any employee benefits provided by an employer— (A) that is a State or political subdivision of a State or any agency or instrumentality of a State or political sub-division of a State; and (B) that maintained an employee benefit plan at any time between June 23, 1989, and the date of enactment of this Act that would be superseded (in whole or part) by this title and the amendments made by this title but for the operation of this subsection, and which plan may be modified only through a change in applicable State or local law, this title and the amendments made by this title shall not apply until the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. (2) Election of disability coverage for employees hired prior to effective date.— (A) In general.—An employer that maintains a plan described in paragraph (1)(B) may, with regard to disability benefits provided pursuant to such a plan— “(i) following reasonable notice to all employees, implement new disability benefits that satisfy the require-104 STAT. 982merits of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (as amended by this title) and “(ii) then offer to each employee covered by a plan described in paragraph (1)(B) the option to elect such new disability benefits in lieu of the existing disability benefits, if— “(I) the offer is made and reasonable notice provided no later than the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act; and “(II) the employee is given up to 180 days after the offer in which to make the election. (B) Previous disability benefits.—If the employee does not elect to be covered by the new disability benefits, the employer may continue to cover the employee under the previous disability benefits even though such previous benefits do not otherwise satisfy the requirements of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (as amended by this title). (C) Abrogation of right to receive benefits.—An election of coverage under the new disability benefits shall abrogate any right the electing employee may have had to receive existing disability benefits. The employee shall maintain any years of service accumulated for purposes of determining eligibility for the new benefits. (3) State assistance.—The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall, on request, provide to States assistance in identifying and securing independent technical advice to assist in complying with this subsection. (4) Definitions.—For purposes of this subsection: (A) Employer and state.—The terms “employer” and “State” shall have the respective meanings provided such terms under subsections (b) and (i) of section 11 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 630). (B) Disability benefits.—The term ‘disability benefits’ means any program for employees of a State or political subdivision of a State that provides long-term disability benefits, whether on an insured basis in a separate employee benefit plan or as part of an employee pension benefit plan. (C) Reasonable notice.—The term “reasonable notice” means, with respect to notice of new disability benefits described in paragraph (2)(A) that is given to each employee, notice that— (i) is sufficiently accurate and comprehensive to appraise the employee of the terms and conditions of the disability benefits, including whether the employee is immediately eligible for such benefits; and (ii) is written in a manner calculated to be under-stood by the average employee eligible to participate. (d) Discrimination in Employee Pension Benefit Plans.—Nothing in this title, or the amendments made by this title, shall be construed as limiting the prohibitions against discrimination that are set forth in section 4(j) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (as redesignated by section 103(2) of this Act). (e) Continued Benefit Payments.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, on and after the effective date of this title 104 STAT. 983and the amendments made by this title (as determined in accordance with subsections (a), (b), and (c)), this title and the amendments made by this title shall not apply to a series of benefit payments made to an individual or the individual’s representative that began prior to the effective date and that continue after the effective date pursuant to an arrangement that was in effect on the effective date, except that no substantial modification to such arrangement may be made after the date of enactment of this Act if the intent of the modification is to evade the purposes of this Act.