'Pension Plans Face Looming Crisis,' Rep. Marcy Kaptur Says

LORAIN, OH — Tom Brady, who is quick to note that he is not the quarterback, spent three decades working with Roadway Express, an Ohio trucking company. Even while he accepted a frozen pay, he did so with the promise that it would benefit his pension. Nowhe's worried that in a few years, he may have no pension to rely on.

"I've got six grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and my wife and I support them and help them as much as we can," he said. "My biggest thing is during negotiations for contracts it was put in there that this money went in there, to the pension fund, instead of an increase in our wages. That way we'd have that money when we retired. Now somebody has squandered that money due to no fault of the retirees, the people paying into it."

Representative Marcy Kaptur thinks people like Brady, and their pensions, have reason to be concerned. She believes there is a coming shortfall in payments to pension plans and Congress needs to address it. She's urging Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to take quick action to protect Americans' retirement income.

“Congress needs to step up and secure the pension benefits these workers have earned,” said Kaptur in her first floor speech of 2018. “And there should be no pension cuts for workers who contributed to their own plans, and should have a right to the money that they invested.”

Specifically, Kaptur wants Ryan to throw support behind the Butch Lewis 2017 Act, which would protect American pension funds from cuts. The legislation has garnered some bipartisan support and the approval of Senator Bernie Sanders.

Kaptur said that if Congress does nothing millions of Americans could lose their pension benefits. She notes that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Company has said it could not support even one pension fund should one fail.

“Congress can no longer kick the can down the road. This problem does not go away if Congress continues to ignore it. Rather the financial stress mounts for the retirement funds and of course for the retirees and their families,” Kaptur said in her speech.

Read Kaptur's full letter to Ryan by clicking here.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak