COLUMBUS, OH —On Friday, July 13, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Co-Chair of the House and Senate Joint Select Committee on Pensions, and Committee Member U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) will host a field hearing of the Committee at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. The hearing, “Understanding What’s at Stake for Current Workers and Retirees,” will allow members of the Committee to hear directly from current workers and retirees who will be affected by the pension crisis if nothing is done. This field hearing will be the 5th public meeting the Committee has held. It follows a hearing in DC, where the Committee heard from contributing employers about the potential consequences to small businesses and the national economy if no action is taken.

The bipartisan, bicameral Committee has been tasked with finding a solution to the pension crisis immediately threatening 1.3 million Americans and thousands of small businesses around the country. Any solution the Committee produces would be guaranteed an expedited vote in the Senate without amendments. 

Numerous Ohio pension plans, including the massive Central States Teamsters Pension Plan, the United Mine Workers Pension Plan, the Ironworkers Local 17 Pension Plan, the Ohio Southwest Carpenters Pension Plan and the Bakers and Confectioners Pension Plan are currently on the brink of failure. If nothing is done to the plans, they will fail and retirees will face massive cuts to the benefits they earned over decades of work.

 

WHO:                        U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

                                    U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)

                                    Workers, Retirees, Businesses

                                                                                                           

WHAT:                      Field Hearing: House and Senate Joint Select Committee on Pensions

 

DATE:                       Friday, July 13, 2018 at 2:00 PM

 

WHERE:                   Ohio Statehouse

                                    Richard H. Finan Hearing Room, Room 126

                                    1 Capitol Square

                                    Columbus, OH 

NOTE: Reporters interested in covering the hearing should please RSVP to Matt_Keyes@brown.senate.gov and Emmalee_Kalmbach@portman.senate.gov.

 

SCHEDULED WITNESSES:

·         Ms. Roberta Dell, Chief Union Steward, Spangler Candy Company, Bryan, OH

·         Mr. David A. Gardner, Chief Executive Officer, Alfred Nickles Bakery Inc., Navarre, OH

·         Mr. Bill Martin, President, Spangler Candy Company, Bryan, OH

·         Mr. Brian Slone, Apprentice Instructor, Millwright Local 1090, Dayton, OH

·         Mr. Mike Walden, President, National United Committee to Protect Pensions, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

·         Mr. Larry Ward, Retired Coal Miner and Former President of United Mine Workers of America, District 6, Hopedale, OH

Details on the Joint-Select Committee to Solve the Pensions Crisis:

  • The Committee is made up of 16 members appointed by House and Senate leaders. The members include eight Senators and eight House members, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.
  • The Committee has instructions to report a bill to solve the pension crisis by the final week of November.
  • If at least five members from each party agree on a compromise, the solution the Committee produces will be guaranteed an expedited vote on the Senate floor with no amendments.
  • The Committee is required to hold at least five public meetings.

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