860
Breyer, J., dissenting
phrased state statute affects an ERISA plan, among other things. Hence there is no specific "reference" problem.
The "connection" problem is more difficult. Insofar as that term refers to a conflict with an ERISA purpose, I discuss the matter primarily in Part II-B, infra. The term "connection," however, might also encompass the question whether state law intrudes into an area Congress (given ERISA's basic objectives) would have wanted to reserve exclusively for federal legislation. Dillingham, supra, at 324 (quoting New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Ins. Co., 514 U. S. 645, 655 (1995)). Cf. Malone v. White Motor Corp., 435 U. S. 497, 504 (1978) (state law is pre-empted when it falls within a field that Congress has sought to occupy); San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U. S. 236, 244-245 (1959) (States may not regulate activities that are protected or prohibited under National Labor Relations Act); Garner v. Teamsters, 346 U. S. 485, 498-499 (1953) (States may not add to or subtract from remedies provided in National Labor Relations Act). In my view, this latter problem (sometimes called "field preemption," see Dillingham, supra, at 336 (Scalia, J., concurring)) is not present here.
The state law in question concerns the ownership of benefits. I concede that a primary concern of ERISA is the proper financial management of pension and welfare benefit funds themselves, Dillingham, supra, at 326-327 (citing Massachusetts v. Morash, 490 U. S. 107, 115 (1989)), and that payment of benefits (which amounts to the writing of checks from those funds) is closely "connected with" that management. I also concede that state laws that affect those payments lie closer to ERISA's federal heart than do state laws that, say, affect those goods and services that ERISA benefit plans purchase, such as apprenticeship training programs, 519 U. S., at 332-334, or medical benefits, De Buono v. NYSA-ILA Medical and Clinical Services Fund, ante, at 814-816. But, even so, I cannot say that the state law at
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