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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) today led a bipartisan coalition of 89 Representatives in sending a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department urging the rejection of an application by the Central States Pension Plan to cut retiree benefits by as much as 70 percent. The proposal is a result of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, which eroded a decades-long guarantee of pension benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by allowing distressed pension funds to cut retiree benefits in certain circumstances. If approved, the proposal would impact 273,000 current and future retirees, including an estimated 30,000 Michigan members.

“This is an issue of fundamental fairness,” Dingell said. “These employees worked a lifetime thinking they would have a pension to retire on, and now they don’t know what they will live on. These cuts would have a devastating impact on workers, retirees, families and whole communities and we should make every effort to ensure workers receive the benefits they’ve earned.”

Since 1955, the Central States Pension Fund has provided benefits for eligible employees of contributing employers that are signatories to collective bargaining agreements with various Teamster local unions. The fund covers workers and retirees from more than 1,500 trucking, construction, and other companies in 37 states.

On September 25, 2015, Central States leadership filed an application with the Treasury Department to seek approval for a pension rescue plan under the new Multiemployer Pension Reform Act. Treasury is expected to make a decision on the proposal by May 2016. If approved, the fund’s roughly 407,000 members will vote on the benefit reductions; however, Treasury can implement a benefit reduction plan regardless of beneficiary vote for “systemically important plans.”

“We do not believe placing an inordinate burden on middle-class workers and retirees is the only option for Central States,” Dingell and her colleagues wrote in the letter. “For these reasons and more, we urge the Treasury Department to deny this application and move forward with a more equitable solution.”

Dingell is also a cosponsor of HR 2844, the Keep Our Pension Promises Act, which would close several tax loopholes to help shore up at-risk multiemployer pension plans to help ensure that retirees get the benefits they deserve.

Other Members signing the letter are: Alma Adams (D-NC); Brad Ashford (D-NE); Karen Bass (D-CA); Joyce Beatty (D-OH); Sanford Bishop (D-GA); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR); Robert A. Brady (D-PA); Corrine Brown (D-FL); Julia Brownley (D-CA); Cheri Bustos (D-IL); G.K. Butterfield (D-NC); Michael Capuano (D-MA); Tony Cardenas (D-CA); Andre Carson (D-IN); Matt Cartwright (D-PA); Katherine Clark (D-MA); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY); Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO); Steve Cohen (D-TN); John Conyers (D-MI); Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); Ted Deutch (D-FL); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX); Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. (R-NY); Mike Doyle (D-PA); Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Keith Ellison (D-MN); Elizabeth Esty (D-CT); Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE); Bill Foster (D-IL); Lois Frankel (D-FL); Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ); John Garamendi (D-CA); Scott Garrett (R-NJ); Gwen Graham (D-FL); Al Green (D-TX); Gene Green (D-TX); Raul Grijalva (D-AZ); Alcee Hastings (D-FL); Brian Higgins (D-NY); Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Mike Honda (D-CA); Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-GA); Walter B. Jones (R-NC); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); William Keating (D-MA); Robin Kelly (D-IL); Dan Kildee (D-MI); Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ); Barbara Lee (D-CA); Ted Lieu (D-CA); Dan Lipinski (D-IL); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); Alan Lowenthal (D-CA); Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA); Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY); Betty McCollum (D-MN); Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH); Grace Meng (D-NY); Gwen Moore (D-WI); Patrick Murphy (D-FL); Jerry Nadler (D-NY); Rick Nolan (D-MN); Donald Norcross (D-NJ); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ); Scott Peters (D-CA); Collin C. Peterson (D-MN); Mark Pocan (D-WI); Bobby Rush (D-IL); Tim Ryan (D-OH); Jan Schakowsky (D-IL); Adam Schiff (D-CA); David Scott (D-GA); Jose Serrano (D-NY); Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ); Adam Smith (D-WA); Dina Titus (D-NV); Paul Tonko (D-NY); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Nydia Velazquez (D-NY); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ); Peter Welch (D-VT); Frederica Wilson (D-FL); John Yarmuth (D-KY).

The letter can be read here and below.

Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
Special Master for Implementation U.S. Department of the Treasury
MPRA Office (Attn: Deva Kyle)
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 1224
Washington, DC 20220

RE:   TREAS-D0-2015-0009-0001

Dear Special Master Feinberg,

We write today on behalf of the thousands of retirees and the families we represent in strong opposition to the reduction in benefits proposed by the Board of Trustees of the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (Central States Pension Plan) (CSPF), which has submitted an application to the Treasury Department to reduce benefits under the CSPF in accordance with the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA).

The proposed cuts by Central States will affect about 270,000 people with a significant number of those retirees facing severe cuts of 50-70 percent.  Pension benefits are hard earned by workers over a lifetime of labor and commitment. These cuts will have a dire impact not on only individual workers and retirees, but their entire communities as well.  In addition, we have serious concerns that government safety net programs will increasingly be the only option left for families who will face a drastic reduction in their purchasing power.

We do not believe placing an inordinate burden on middle-class workers and retirees is the only option for Central States. For these reasons and more, we urge the Treasury Department to deny this application and move forward with a more equitable solution.

Thank you for your consideration of our views on this important matter. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we may be of assistance.

Sincerely,