Cite as: 506 U. S. 125 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
§ 2(c)(2) is compelled by the plain meaning of § 514(a) and by the structure of ERISA. Id., at 215-216, 948 F. 2d, at 1323-1324. In the court's view, ERISA pre-empts a law that relates to a covered plan and is not excepted from preemption by § 514(b), regardless of whether the law also relates to an exempt plan. Ibid. The Court of Appeals further concluded that this result would advance the policies and purposes served by ERISA pre-emption. Id., at 217- 218, 948 F. 2d, at 1325-1326. By tying the benefit levels of the workers' compensation plan to those provided in an ERISA-covered plan, "the Equity Amendment Act could have a serious impact on the administration and content of the ERISA-covered plan." Id., at 217, 948 F. 2d, at 1325. Because the opinion below conflicts with the Second Circuit's decision in R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. v. Prevost, 915 F. 2d 787 (1990), cert. denied, 499 U. S. 947 (1991), which upheld against a pre-emption challenge a Connecticut law substantially similar to § 2(c)(2), we granted certiorari. 503 U. S. 970 (1992). We now affirm.
II
We have repeatedly stated that a law "relate[s] to" a covered employee benefit plan for purposes of § 514(a) "if it has a connection with or reference to such a plan." Shaw, supra, at 97. E. g., Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon, 498 U. S. 133, 139 (1990); FMC Corp. v. Holliday, 498 U. S. 52, 58 (1990); Mackey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc., 486 U. S. 825, 829 (1988); Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U. S. 41, 47 (1987); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Massachusetts, 471 U. S. 724, 739 (1985). This reading is true to the ordinary meaning of "relate to," see Black's Law Dictionary 1288 (6th ed. 1990), and thus gives effect to the "deliberately expansive" language chosen by Congress. Pilot Life, supra, at 46. See also Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U. S. 374, 383 (1992). Under § 514(a), ERISA preempts any state law that refers to or has a connection with
129
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007