U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, Bernie Sanders, Jim Banks, and Tim Kaine introduced legislation on July 15 to strengthen the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), aiming to ensure that rail workers and their families can access retirement and unemployment benefits in a timely manner. The bill follows a hearing led by Cassidy examining the RRB’s operations.
Dr. Cassidy said, “The RRB Trust Fund has delivered strong returns for railroad workers. But outdated infrastructure is preventing workers from getting the benefits they’ve earned in a timely manner. This legislation modernizes RRB, ensuring workers and their families can achieve a secure retirement.”
Senator Banks said, “More than 20,000 Hoosiers rely on earned Railroad Retirement Board benefits. This bill allows the Railroad Retirement Board to use its own money to address the application backlog and modernize decades-old technology. America’s railroad workers deserve nothing less than that.” Senator Kaine added, “For generations, rail workers have helped keep our country and economy moving. We must ensure they receive the benefits they were promised… Workers shouldn’t have to wait more than a year to have their disability claims processed.”
In 2001, Congress created the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust to invest on behalf of the RRB; since then its assets have grown in surplus, making the system self-sustaining. Despite these revenues, officials say that understaffing and aging IT infrastructure have resulted in backlogs of benefit claims exceeding one year for some applicants.
The proposed Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act would allow access to part of these surplus funds for modernization efforts without undermining system solvency or sustainability. The bill is supported by several industry organizations including the Association of American Railroads (AAR), American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED).
Ian Jefferies, President and CEO of AAR, said: “This commonsense legislation will help ensure the Railroad Retirement Board has the stable administrative resources necessary to address long-standing technology modernization needs… We applaud Sens. Bill Cassidy and Bernie Sanders for their bipartisan leadership…” Greg Regan of TTD said: “As America’s largest transportation labor federation, we strongly support the RRB Stability Act… It’s up to Congress to allocate these administrative funds…” Chuck Baker from ASLRRA called it “good, smart competent government” supporting functional retirement programs without taxpayer cost.
Mark Wallace from BLET stated: “We are grateful … for introducing the Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act … which will give RRB long-term funding stability.” Tony D. Cardwell from BMWED added: “This funding would alleviate those problems by increasing RRB staff hiring and modernizing its I.T services … Our Brotherhood strongly supports passage of this legislation.” The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee oversees such legislative initiatives related to public health policy as well as federal regulations affecting health care systems across sectors like workforce issues or retirement programs, according to the official website.