In addition to annual funding for the federal government and provisions on economic stimulus necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act), enacted on December 27, includes temporary relief from the minimum vesting standards tax rules for employer-sponsored retirement plans- both defined contribution and defined benefit pension plans. Division EE, Section 209 of the Act, "Temporary Rule Preventing Partial Plan Termination," provides a window of relief from the occurrence (and subsequent formal recognition and mandatory actions) of a partial plan termination for any plan if the number of active participants covered by the plan on March 31, 2021, is at least 80% of the number of active participants covered by the plan on March 13, 2020.