Fate of 401(k) reform bill now in Senate's hands.(Brief Article)

WASHINGTON-Sweeping reform legislation designed to better protect 401(k) and other defined contribution plan participants from future Enron-type disasters is moving to the Senate.

The House of Representatives, on a 255-163 vote, last week approved legislation developed in response to the collapse of Enron Corp. Enron's unraveling and the plunge in its share price last year caused the company's 401(k) plan participants collectively to lose more than $1 billion.

Enron-inspired provisions in the bill include allowing 401(k) plan participants to sell company stock their employers contributed as a match after three years, giving employees advance notice of blackouts when they can't conduct transactions and barring top executives from selling shares they hold outside the plan during a blackout.

Other provisions would require employers to improve investment education, allow plan participants to use pretax dollars to purchase investment …