Brown Secures Ohio Witness to Testify Against Pension Cuts Before Senate Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance – today announced that Rita Lewis of Westchester will testify at a hearing of the Finance Committee on the potential pension cuts thousands of Ohioans could face in the wake of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA). The hearing will be held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 1 at 10:00 a.m.

Rita’s late husband, Butch Lewis, worked as a trucker for 40 years and led the Southwest Retirees Pension Committee’s fight against the cuts authorized under MPRA. He passed away on New Year’s Eve of 2015 due to a stroke, which doctors have attributed, in part, to the stress he faced because of the proposed cuts. Rita’s widow benefits have already been cut and she faces an additional 40 percent reduction because of the proposed benefit cuts put forth by Central States. Brown wrote this month to the Treasury Department asking it to reject the proposed cuts.

“Butch Lewis spent his life on the road to put food on the table and support his family. He and his wife, Rita, were promised a pension for his lifetime of hard work. Now that pension is in jeopardy,” said Brown. “We must protect retirees and survivors – like Rita – from these massive cuts to their hard-earned benefits. If we fail to act, we stand to hurt more families who need these benefits just to get by. Rita will testify to honor her husband’s fight against these cuts on behalf of his fellow truckers and I’m honored she accepted our invitation to share her story.”

Under MPRA, multiemployer pension trustees, like Central States, are now able to propose massive cuts to the earned benefits of participants and retirees if the plans are in “critical and declining” status. Pension trustees for plans in “critical and declining” status may submit an application for proposed benefit cuts to the Treasury. After the Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) approve the proposed cuts, participants vote to implement the cuts or block them.

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