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Check out the bulletin below from our NUCPP Vice-President Sherman Liimatainen. While it's not what we hoped for, it's a move forward in the right direction. After fighting this for almost 4 years now, we need Congress to come up with legislation that once and for all is a solution that is fair and equitable for all multiemployer pension participants. It's time to regroup and plan our strategies for the coming months as we find out who the members are going to be on the Joint Select Committee. Thanks for everyone for fighting the good fight!
In addition to the bulletin below, see some additional news stories about yesterday's events below too.
Special pension committee formed in Congress to come up with multiemployer bill
Special pension committee formed in Congress to come up with multiemployer ...
By Hazel Bradford
Congress will vote later this year on legislation to help struggling multiemployer pension funds, once a new sel...
and
Congressional committee to tackle pension reform
Congressional committee to tackle pension reform
By Jessica Wehrman
WASHINGTON The bipartisan budget deal the U.S. Senate reached Wednesday also will create a bipartisan joint Hou...
and
Brown leads creation of pension-crisis committee
Brown leads creation of pension-crisis committee
By Vicki Needham
House and Senate lawmakers will form a committee aiming to solve, by year's end, the looming pension crisis ...
and
Congress could create special panel to address union pensions
Congress could create special panel to address union pensions
This puts off an immediate fix to a problem that could affect 1.5 million union retirees but it also raises the ...
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 6:28 PM
Subject: Senator Brown Press Release
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As you know, over the past several weeks we have been lobbying in D.C. for the Butch Lewis Act to be attached to the spending bill.
Members of the Lobby Team can’t be thanked enough for their hard work and leadership. We’re also grateful to retirees who couldn’t travel to D.C., but worked hard from their homes making visits, writing letters and making phone calls.
We applaud Senator Brown for his ability to see that Republicans were not going to work with us, and to have the foresight to put together, with Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, a Joint Select Committee to be attached to the spending bill.
The committee must come to a resolution for the pension crisis by December of 2018, and Republicans can no longer ignore this issue. No one on the committee can delay our efforts for a resolution any longer.
There will be six Representatives and six Senators from both sides of the aisle on the committee and there will be at least five public meetings.
We hope there will be opportunities for NUCPP and other multiemployer funds to communicate with the Joint Select Committee.
Although we wanted the Butch Lewis Act to be attached the bill, we should understand that the Butch Lewis Act can generate much interest in bringing this to a resolution, and to have Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan agree to a Joint Select Committee is almost unheard of, and is believed to be due to all of your grassroots efforts.
In D.C., NUCPP has put together a workshop that takes place in the mornings and evenings before and after days spent lobbying. We are very fortunate to have IBT’s Legislative Director, Sunshine McBride, Lobbyists Jan Oliver and Fred McLuckie, IBT’s Vice President at Large, John Murphy, and James P.Hoffa in attendance tonight. These IBT Representatives are a guiding force to the NUCPP Lobby Team.
We can only applaud all that’s taking place to steer us in the right direction.
It’s unfortunate that our leader, Mike Walden, couldn’t be here for this moment. He’s healing and continues working from home. He’ll back to work with us again soon. Thank you, Mike Walden, for everything you’ve done.
Senator Brown has put out a press release:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UMQq-wJ-4KBljQ4S61f47lvhTZtCzJ_y/view?usp=sharing
Attached is the Senate budget deal with the following overview of the agreement on multiemployer pensions:
Democrats secured a new law creating a Joint Select Committee to Solve the Multiemployer Pension Crisis:
• Millions of pensioners, including those in the Central States Fund, miners, and others, are being threatened with cuts to their hard-earned pension benefits through no fault of their own
- Despite Republican efforts to block a legislative solution to this issue, Democrats demanded a special committee to report a legislative fix by December 2018
Stay strong and remain positive.
Please share this with your brothers and sisters on Facebook and everywhere.
Fraternally,
Sherman Liimatainen
Vice President
National United Committee to Protect Pensions | P.O. Box 2239, Cloquet, MN 55720
