Butch Lewis Act

The Butch Lewis Act is an act of the United States Congress that would allow the United States Treasury to provide financial assistance to failing multiemployer pension plans.[1] This assistance would come in the form of grants that would not need to be repaid to the Department of Treasury and would allow retirees to receive the entirety of their pension benefits.

Purpose and content

Many multiemployer pension plans across the United States are on the verge of insolvency.[2] According to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, "A multiemployer plan is a collectively bargained plan maintained by more than one employer, usually within the same or related industries, and a labor union".[3] Industries included in multiemployer pension plans currently include trucking and transportation, retail, manufacturing, mining and entertainment.[3] While working in a union, employees barter compensation and benefits with their employer, often trading in raises or higher pay for a retirement plan.[3] These plans started to fail for multiple reasons, including but not limited to: industries going bankrupt and not following through with financial obligations,[2] past surpluses causing fragile bursts of benefit withdraws,[2] failed stock market investments,[4] government deregulation,[5] and the 2008 economic crisis.[4] Underfunded multiemployer pensions currently threaten the retirement plans of 1-1.5 million workers across the United States.[4]

Multiemployer pension plans have their own arm of the federal government called the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which was created to insure pension benefits.[3] However, these pension programs owe approximately $66 billion to retired workers and only have about $3 billion in revenue, giving the insurance fund until 2026 before it is drained completely.[6]

The current Butch Lewis Act provides a bailout to fund multi-employer pension plans for 30 years.[4] The bill restores pensions to their full amount and increases the national pension insurance cap.[4] Finally, it requires regular reports to Congress on the status of these pension plans as a preventative measure against future collapse.[4]

In 2017, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown named this piece of legislation after late Ohioan Estil "Butch" Lewis.[7] Lewis was an Ohio native and Vietnam War veteran, who was the former president of the Teamsters Local 100 union in Cincinnati.[8] Lewis became an activist after the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 threatened massive cuts to pensions plans.[8] He volunteered to organize and advocate on behalf of his fellow union workers and retirees, working with public officials and the Pension Rights Center to enact counter-legislation to the 2014 benefit cuts.[8] Butch Lewis died of a stroke in 2015 as a result of the stress of the pension crisis.[7]

Legislative history

The Butch Lewis Act was originally introduced in 2017 in the 115th Congress as S. 2147 where it died in committee.[9] It was then introduced in 2019 in the 116th Congress as S. 2254 where it died, again, in committee.[10] Both versions of this bill would have created a new division of the United States Treasury to solely deal with the multiemployer pension crisis.[11] This new office, the Pension Rehabilitation Administration, would have given low interest loans funded by taxes to multiemployer pensions in order to remain solvent.[11]

The bill was then introduced again in 2021 during the 117th Congress in its current form. It was renamed the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (S. 547).[12] This version of the bill was included as a part of the American Rescue Plan, Congress' 1.9 trillion dollar economic relief package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] The American Rescue Plan, including the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, passed the House on February 27, 2021, the Senate on March 6, 2021, and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021.[14]

Public response

Support

Many union chapters, such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,[1] United Steelworkers,[5] and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers[15] across the nation support the Butch Lewis Act. In 2021, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed the Butch Lewis Act.[16] The bill has the support of non profits like the Pension Rights Center and AARP, along with the support of public officials like Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH).[17] Those in favor believe it is the government's duty to fund these pensions.[16] They also remind the public that retirees are not looking for a handout with this bill, but rather the benefits that were negotiated and promised to them throughout their careers.[5]

Opposition

Organizations like Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation have opposed the bill in the past.[17] The bill was also opposed by public officials such as Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Senator Rob Portman (R-OH),[17] Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN).[5] A common criticism of the Butch Lewis Act is that the bailout bill does not address the structural issues that are causing the pensions to fail.[17] Alternative solutions provided by the opposition include increasing retirement plan premiums and taxes.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Gotsch, Ted (2021-02-12). "Teamsters Applaud House Ways & Means Vote Approving Pension Reform Plan". International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  2. ^ a b c "Overview of Multiemployer Pension System Issues | American Academy of Actuaries". www.actuary.org. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  3. ^ a b c d "Introduction to Multiemployer Plans | Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation". www.pbgc.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "After Years-Long Push, Brown Working to Secure Important Pension Win in Covid-19 Rescue Package | U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Facing Retirement With Fear". United Steelworkers. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  6. ^ "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Brown's Pension Fix in COVID-19 Rescue Package | U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  7. ^ a b "Brown Announces Plan to Protect Ohio Pensions, Keep Promises to Ohio Workers | U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  8. ^ a b c "In memory of Butch Lewis | Pension Rights Center". www.pensionrights.org. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  9. ^ Brown, Sherrod (2018-01-30). "S.2147 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Butch Lewis Act of 2017". congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  10. ^ Brown, Sherrod (2019-07-24). "S.2254 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Butch Lewis Act of 2019". congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  11. ^ a b "Brown Announces Plan to Protect Ohio Pensions, Keep Promises to Ohio Workers | U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  12. ^ Bauer, Elizabeth. "The Covid Spend-O-Rama's Multiemployer Pension Bailouts: Some Disappointed First Impressions". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  13. ^ "Brown Votes to Pass American Rescue Plan to Get All Americans Vaccinated and Support Workers, Communities & Small Businesses | U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio". www.brown.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  14. ^ Yarmuth, John A. (2021-03-11). "H.R.1319 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): American Rescue Plan Act of 2021". congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  15. ^ "IBEW Effort Helps Move 'Butch Lewis' Closer to Passage". ibew.org. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  16. ^ a b "Employers' Letter of Support for the Multiemployer Pension Relief Provisions". U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  17. ^ a b c d Eaton, Sabrina (2019-07-25). "House of Representatives votes to shore up failing multi-employer pensions". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2021-02-27.