State Z enacted a Private Pension Benefits Protection Act requiring private employers
January 6th, 2018
State Z enacted a Private Pension Benefits Protection Act requiring private employers with one hundred or more employees to pay a pension funding charge upon terminating a pension plan or closing an office in State Z. Acme Steel Company closed its offices in State Z, whereupon the State assessed the company $185,000 under the vesting provisions of the act. Acme challenged the constitutionality of the act under the Contract Clause (Article I, Section 10) of the U.S. Constitution. Was the act constitutional? Explain.