NUCPP BULLETIN! Butch Lewis EPPRA!

[Freightmaster1]

Check out this breaking news from the NUCPP! Let's keep up the fight! There's some light at the end of the tunnel!

Pension Warriors,
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The NUCPP Board Of Directors and all of our great committees across the country send sincere thanks to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, and House HELP Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, for introducing the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021. The NUCPP has sent letters thanking and supporting Mr. Neal and Mr. Scott for keeping their promise to fight for the multiemployer pension participants by introducing their Bill.

We have been receiving many phone calls and emails with questions concerning the ‘revised Butch Lewis Act’. As you are all aware, the original Butch Lewis Act (BLA) was a loan program. After it passed in the House, the BLA stalled in the Senate, and through no fault of the retirees, unions and funds, this delay caused the BLA to eventually become too costly for a loan program to work for the funds.

The newly introduced bill titled “The Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021’ is the same EPPRA that was introduced several weeks ago, but out of respect for the hard work of the late Butch Lewis and his spouse Rita Lewis, the bill has been changed to include Butch’s name in the title. However, the newer version will be a partitioning plan, which is a big difference from the Butch Lewis Act of the past, which again, was a loan program. We thank Senator Sherrod Brown, Congressmen Neal and Scott for their respect in honoring two of our own, Butch and Rita. We are expecting a Senate companion bill in the near future as well.

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[Freightmaster1]

It is also important to note that the pension language has not been and is not currently in the Reconciliation, Stimulus or Covid relief package at this time. Thank you to IBT's Political and Legislative Action Director Christy Bailey for confirming that any information stating otherwise is just misinformed social media posts. Currently under the Byrd Rule in the reconciliation bill, it will not allow certain attachments to the bill without some amendments or changes to the rule. However, we are confident that our congressional leaders will find a way to overcome that obstacle very soon as they are pushing hard and fast to finally solve our crises for our participants, employers and funds.

This is entirely in the hands of the new Congress, their staff, their committees and their experts. They have all the tools, all the power, all of our suggestions and input from all stakeholders.

Over the past 8+ years, because of the grassroots efforts of the retirees and its leadership, the NUCPP has fought for where we are and who we are, relying on each other. Washington has heard our stories, again and again. The time is over for listening to consultants. This is the time to hold our position and continue to stand together. We feel confident that we are finally in a good position to have the pension crisis finally solved, so it is imperative that you continue to call your House and Senate representatives and ask for their support for this solution. We are very optimistic that a pension solution will finally be found in the very near future.

We thank you for your continued support and trust, and we know that we can cross this finish line together.

Take care and stay safe.

The NUCPP Board of Directors
Mike Walden, President

 

[Banned for Life]

. Currently under the Byrd Rule in the reconciliation bill, it will not allow certain attachments to the bill without some amendments or changes to the rule. However, we are confident that our congressional leaders will find a way to overcome that obstacle

Are they advocating circumventing the rule of law?