Congressman Horsford Fights to Protect the Pensions of 1.3 Million Americans With the Butch Lewis Act
Press Release
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee took up discussion of H.R. 397, The Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act, also known as the Butch Lewis Act. This bill would serve as an important backstop to ensure that retirees do not have their pensions taken from them. The Butch Lewis Act would create a new office within the Treasury Department: the Pension Rehabilitation Administration, which would allow pension plans to borrow money they need to remain solvent and continue providing retirement security for retirees and workers for decades to come.
Following World War II, many labor unions and employers across several different industries worked to create "multiemployer" pension plans with companies for which their members worked. These Americans worked and knew they had retirement security in the future. They knew they would be retiring with dignity. Now, in the years following the 2008 financial crisis, while Wall Street and big banks were bailed out, retirees relying on these multiemployer plans saw their pensions take a devastating hit. Today, pension plans in every state in the country are in jeopardy with 1.3 million retired workers facing a financial nightmare.
"As a cosponsor of this bill, I believe pension plans are an essential part of retirement security for Nevadans and American workers and their families. After a lifetime of hard work, Americans deserve to retire with dignity and financial security," Congressman Horsford said of H.R. 397. "If we could bail out those on Wall Street in 2008, we can give these Americans a sense of security in their retirement today."
Without a long-term solution, these retirees, who dedicated their lives to hard work, and were promised benefits in their retirement, could see their benefits severely diminished, or worse, completely lost.
"If Congress fails to act, beneficiaries will face unacceptable benefit cuts, or watch as multi-employer pension plans become insolvent, resulting in massive outstanding obligations that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation will be unable to pay," Congressman Horsford said. "Pensions are a promise to workers, one that must be kept, and I am proud that this Committee is working to protect hard-earned retirement benefits."
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