(Washington, DC) – Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) voted for H.R. 397, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act (also known as the Butch Lewis Act), which establishes the Pension Rehabilitation Administration (PRA) within the Treasury Department to allow pension plans to borrow the money they need to remain solvent, and continue providing retirement security for decades to come, by selling Treasury-issued bonds in the open market. The bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, 264 to 169.

Approximately 130 multiemployer pensions plans are in severe financial distress. Some are projected to fail within the next twenty years while others are facing insolvency in the next few years. If these plans were to fail, retirees would be at risk of losing the money they invested into their retirement through decades of work. The Butch Lewis Act provides the support desperately needed by multiemployer pension plans and for the more than 1.3 million workers who invested their hard-earned pay into these plans.

An estimated $3,611,986,866 in pensions are at risk in Texas. The Butch Lewis Act will save the investments and benefits of Texas’ more than 23,233 pension plan participants.

“Passing this legislation today provides the support that these plans and their participants need to ensure retirees do not lose pensions earned over decades,” said Congresswoman Fletcher. “I am proud to see us recognize the need for this bill – on both sides of the aisle – and I’m glad to see it pass today.”

Congresswoman Fletcher has been an advocate for labor and retirees in the 116th Congress. She voted in favor of H.R. 1994, Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act; H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act; and H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act.