Division V · Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans
Part 20. Governmental, Church, and Tribal Plans
This Part applies whenever the employer type, rather than the plan type, drives the analysis: a State or local government, public school district, charter school, public hospital or authority; a church or convention of churches, a church-affiliated hospital, university, or agency, or a denominational pension board; or an Indian tribal government or tribal enterprise. The unifying question is whether the plan is outside ERISA, and on what authority.
Chapters
Chapter 1. Governmental Plans
Governmental plans are defined by a Code section that has never been the subject of a final regulation, are exempt from most of what the rest of the Desk Reference analyzes, and are governed substantially by State law.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 2. Church Plans
Church-plan status is an all-or-nothing exemption from ERISA that carries enormous consequences in both directions: no fiduciary rules, no funding rules, no PBGC — and, correspondingly, no ERISA preemption of State law and no federal remedy for participants.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Chapter 3. Indian Tribal Government Plans
Tribal benefit plans sit at the intersection of three bodies of law — the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, and federal Indian law — and the governing tax guidance has been in transitional relief since 2006 with no final regulation.
Law stated as of October 3, 2026
Also in this Part
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