Pascrell Supports Butch Lewis Act

Legislation will provide critical financial assistance to multiemployer pension plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) voted in support of H.R. 397, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Plans Act of 2019, commonly referred to as the Butch Lewis Act. Passed out of the Ways and Means Committee, this legislation will help preserve the pensions of retirees and workers through a unique public-private partnership.

“I am a proud co-sponsor of the Butch Lewis Act, which addresses the multiemployer pension plan crisis for retirees and workers,” said Rep. Pascrell. “It is appropriate that this legislation is named after Mr. Lewis, a freight driver and steward, who fought hard for pension protection legislation before his passing in 2015. Workers essentially entered into a contract with their employers: they would forego current pay in exchange for a secure future.  Now, however, the promises they undertook are at threat of being broken through no fault of the worker. Working Americans have always been the backbone of our nation. They worked hard and earned their security. I am proud that our committee has stood up for them here today.”

Rep. Pascrell urges committee colleagues to support H.R. 397 earlier today

H.R. 397 was introduced on January 9, 2019 and subsequently referred to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, and Appropriations. It would provide interest-only loans for 29 years and a balloon repayment in the 30th year to troubled multiemployer defined benefit plans that meet specified criteria. If the loan is not sufficient to restore the plan to solvency, additional financial assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) could be applied for. The loans would be made available by a newly created agency within the Treasury Department called the Pension Rehabilitation Administration (PRA), which would sell Treasury-issued bonds in the open market to large investors. It would then lend the proceeds to financially-troubled multiemployer pension plans.

Rep. Pascrell supported similar legislation that was introduced in the 115^th Congress, but the then-majority took no action on it.

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