Hatch, Brown Announce Joint Select Committee Hearing to Consider How the Multiemployer Pension System Affects Stakeholders

WASHINGTON – Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans Co-Chairmen Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today announced they will convene a hearing on Wednesday, July 25, to consider how the multiemployer pension system affects stakeholders. The hearing will take place at 10 a.m. in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

“Millions of Americans across the country depend on multiemployer pension plans for their retirement, and, if nothing changes, a number of workers face increasing financial risks,” Hatch said. “This hearing will provide a platform for stakeholders and experts to discuss issues with the current system, as well as possible policy options that aim to improve retirement security for beneficiaries and shore up the shaky multiemployer pension system.”

“There are more than 100 multiemployer pension plans on the brink of failure, more than 1.3 million workers and retirees across this country at risk of losing their retirement security after a lifetime of hard work, and small businesses in jeopardy of collapsing if they end up on the hook for pension liability they can’t afford to pay,” said Brown. “As this committee works toward a bipartisan solution, this hearing will help us better understand how to fix the system so we can protect the benefits workers have earned and the small businesses that could end up on the hook for pension liabilities they can’t afford to pay. We have a responsibility to get this done before it is too late.” 

The witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing will be:

• James Naughton, Assistant Professor/Donald P. Jacobs Scholar, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Joshua Rauh, Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
• Kenneth Stribling, Retired Teamster
• Timothy Lynch, Senior Director Government Relations Practice, Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius LLP
   

Who: Joint Select Committee on Pensions
What: How the Multiemployer Pension System Affects Stakeholders
Where: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building; Washington, DC 20510
When: Wednesday, July 25 at 10 a.m.

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