Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010,
The second time in a year, a Dem has proposed payback to the unions that elected them. Thats right, they want to put the taxpayers on the hook for billions in mismanaged union pension benefits.
By bailing out the plans, Congress would compromise the remedial provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The Act requires underfunded pension plans to put their houses in order by raising retirement ages; increasing contributions by employers, workers, or both; and lowering benefits. A bailout would remove any incentive for multiemployer pension plans to reorganize their plans responsibly, says Furchtgott-Roth:
Neither bill has been voted out of committee and reached the floor of the House or the Senate, nor have hearings been held, however, the bills have generated support from unions and employers.
Unions want to be free of pension obligations so that they can focus on higher wages in future contracts; employers seek to avoid higher contributions.
With deficits stifling the economy, making the taxpayers already in trouble themselves, pay for underfunded pensions is manifestly unfair. Yes, Casey's Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act would save benefits for workers and retirees. But spending billions of taxpayer funds on failed pensions would swell the deficit still further, harming the economy and destroying jobs rather than creating them, says Furchtgott-Roth.
DECRYING THE UNION PENSION BAILOUT BILL
The second time in a year, a Dem has proposed payback to the unions that elected them. Thats right, they want to put the taxpayers on the hook for billions in mismanaged union pension benefits.
By bailing out the plans, Congress would compromise the remedial provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The Act requires underfunded pension plans to put their houses in order by raising retirement ages; increasing contributions by employers, workers, or both; and lowering benefits. A bailout would remove any incentive for multiemployer pension plans to reorganize their plans responsibly, says Furchtgott-Roth:
Neither bill has been voted out of committee and reached the floor of the House or the Senate, nor have hearings been held, however, the bills have generated support from unions and employers.
Unions want to be free of pension obligations so that they can focus on higher wages in future contracts; employers seek to avoid higher contributions.
With deficits stifling the economy, making the taxpayers already in trouble themselves, pay for underfunded pensions is manifestly unfair. Yes, Casey's Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act would save benefits for workers and retirees. But spending billions of taxpayer funds on failed pensions would swell the deficit still further, harming the economy and destroying jobs rather than creating them, says Furchtgott-Roth.
DECRYING THE UNION PENSION BAILOUT BILL