Should the Treasury issue loans for multiemployer pensions?
Bill Summary
This bill would create a Pension Rehabilitation Administration within the Department of the Treasury. It would also establish a trust fund to make loans to financially struggling (in critical and declining status or insolvent) multiemployer benefit pension plans. Sponsor: Rep. Richard Neal (Democrat, Massachusetts, District 1)
View full bill text ➔
How do you feel?
You can still save your opinion to your scorecard, but since the vote has already taken place, your opinion won't be sent to your lawmakers.
Oppose
Support
Opponents say
• “HR 397 won't make plans more solvent, end underfunding, or make crucial reforms to make them solvent. Taxpayer-funded "loans" that can never be repaid hurts union workers, businesses and innocent taxpayers.” - Rep. Kevin Brady (Republican, Texas, District 8)
• “H.R. 397 falls short of achieving the structural changes needed to help MPPs avoid insolvency, and will only put further strains on a struggling PBGC. Not only does the bill fail to insist on good-faith benefit reductions for plan participants, it reverses prudent reductions agreed to in the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) of 2014. We believe that H.R. 397 will hurt workers in the long run, by allowing plan sponsors to double down on unrealistic promises and assumptions.” - Andrew Lautz, Policy and Government Affairs Associate at the National Taxpayers Union
• There are concerns that this is just another government bailout and does nothing to solve the underlying problems that created the multiemployer pension crisis.
• “H.R. 397 falls short of achieving the structural changes needed to help MPPs avoid insolvency, and will only put further strains on a struggling PBGC. Not only does the bill fail to insist on good-faith benefit reductions for plan participants, it reverses prudent reductions agreed to in the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) of 2014. We believe that H.R. 397 will hurt workers in the long run, by allowing plan sponsors to double down on unrealistic promises and assumptions.” - Andrew Lautz, Policy and Government Affairs Associate at the National Taxpayers Union
• There are concerns that this is just another government bailout and does nothing to solve the underlying problems that created the multiemployer pension crisis.
Proponents say
• “We all know retirees with failing multiemployer pension plans who now find themselves in a devastating predicament – from truck drivers to autoworkers to ironworkers, these Americans live in all of our communities… This is not a bailout. These plans would be required by law to pay back the loans they receive from the PRA – the federal government is simply backstopping the risk… Importantly, my bill does not allow for any cuts to the benefits these workers and retirees earned through years on the job. Americans need our help, and it’s time to answer that call.” - Rep. Richard Neal (Democrat, Massachusetts, District 1)
• “The multiemployer pension system faces an urgent crisis that is threatening the retirement security of over one million Americans. If Congress fails to act, retirees will see catastrophic reductions in their hard-earned pensions. Jobs will be lost. Taxpayers will have to shoulder enormous costs as impacted retirees may be forced to rely on public benefits to take care of themselves and their families. Moreover, the cost of Congressional inaction would likely dwarf the costs of H.R. 397. It is clear, the worst option on the table is doing nothing.” - Rep. Bobby Scott (Democrat, Virginia, District 3)
• Through no fault of their own, an estimated 1.5 million retirees, workers and their families are at risk of losing the hard-earned benefits they have worked for throughout their lifetimes,” Sewell said. “Miners, truck drivers, steel workers – they’re all at risk. The Butch Lewis Act would help save these retiree’s and workers’ benefits through a public-private partnership… If we do not take action now, millions of workers and retirees across the country will suffer as a result.” - Rep. Terri Sewell (Democrat, Alabama, District 7)
• “The multiemployer pension system faces an urgent crisis that is threatening the retirement security of over one million Americans. If Congress fails to act, retirees will see catastrophic reductions in their hard-earned pensions. Jobs will be lost. Taxpayers will have to shoulder enormous costs as impacted retirees may be forced to rely on public benefits to take care of themselves and their families. Moreover, the cost of Congressional inaction would likely dwarf the costs of H.R. 397. It is clear, the worst option on the table is doing nothing.” - Rep. Bobby Scott (Democrat, Virginia, District 3)
• Through no fault of their own, an estimated 1.5 million retirees, workers and their families are at risk of losing the hard-earned benefits they have worked for throughout their lifetimes,” Sewell said. “Miners, truck drivers, steel workers – they’re all at risk. The Butch Lewis Act would help save these retiree’s and workers’ benefits through a public-private partnership… If we do not take action now, millions of workers and retirees across the country will suffer as a result.” - Rep. Terri Sewell (Democrat, Alabama, District 7)
- Neal Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Address Multiemployer Pension Crisis (Press Release)
- H.R. 397 Preliminary Estimate (CBO PDF)
- These Pension Plans are at Risk of Going Broke. Now Lawmakers Need to Agree on a Fix (CNBC)
- Multiemployer Pension Bailout Plan is Fatally Flawed (The Hill Opinion)
- Setting the Record Straight About America’s Multiemployer Pension Crisis (The Hill Opinion)
