|
|
To declare the state of Ohio's support of its | 1 |
steelworkers in urging the President and the | 2 |
Congress of the United States to ensure that the | 3 |
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation is fully | 4 |
funded and properly administered to pay pension | 5 |
benefits to retired steelworkers and their | 6 |
spouses. | 7 |
WHEREAS, Steelworkers are vital to industry in the Midwest | 8 |
and play an essential role in constructing and reinforcing | 9 |
buildings, bridges, and other structures and in producing products | 10 |
used by other manufacturing industries; and | 11 |
WHEREAS, Over the last thirty years the steel industry has | 12 |
fallen on hard times, causing thousands of job losses and numerous | 13 |
plant closings across the Midwest; and | 14 |
WHEREAS, Steelworkers have negotiated contracts that | 15 |
sacrificed higher wages and other benefits in exchange for secure | 16 |
pension benefits; and | 17 |
WHEREAS, Steelworkers were promised solvent pension plans | 18 |
with funds adequate to pay all benefits promised to them; and | 19 |
WHEREAS, The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation is a | 20 |
federal pension insurance program that pays pension benefits to | 21 |
retired workers, including steelworkers, whose employers are | 22 |
bankrupt and pension plans are underfunded; and | 23 |
WHEREAS, There is a sense of urgency concerning the financial | 24 |
security of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation because the | 25 |
recent economic downturn has caused an increased number of | 26 |
companies to go bankrupt, and as a result, the Pension Benefit | 27 |
Guarantee Corporation is paying pension benefits to more workers; | 28 |
and | 29 |
WHEREAS, In 2009, the Government Accountability Office | 30 |
conducted a performance audit of the Pension Benefit Guarantee | 31 |
Corporation and recommended that the Corporation improve | 32 |
strategies on determining pension benefits in complex pension | 33 |
plans, minimize overpayments, improve communication with | 34 |
participants, and increase accessibility to the appeals process; | 35 |
now therefore be it | 36 |
RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 129th General Assembly | 37 |
of the State of Ohio, on behalf of all citizens of this state, | 38 |
support Ohio's steelworkers in urging the President and the | 39 |
Congress of the United States to ensure that the Pension Benefit | 40 |
Guarantee Corporation is fully funded to pay pension benefits to | 41 |
retired steelworkers and their spouses and to ensure that the | 42 |
Corporation implements recommendations made by the Government | 43 |
Accountability Office on procedures for paying benefits to retired | 44 |
workers; and be it further | 45 |
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit duly | 46 |
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the | 47 |
United States, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the | 48 |
United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States | 49 |
House of Representatives, each member of the Ohio Congressional | 50 |
delegation, and the news media of Ohio. | 51 |