WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, today led seven of her House and Senate colleagues in introducing the Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness (REEF) Act to protect railroad employees and end mandated cuts to the Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) Unemployment Insurance Account. Current law requires the RRB to reduce railroad unemployment and sickness insurance benefits by 5.7 percent beginning on May 10, 2023.
While regular unemployment compensation for other industries is exempt from sequestration, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) is not. This means that the funds railroaders and employers pay into the RUIA for unemployment and sickness benefits are used to offset federal spending instead of going back to the hard-working individuals who pay into it.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and is cosponsored by U.S. Representatives Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), Jesús García (D-Ill.), and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.).
“Current law unfairly penalizes America’s railroaders by imposing a harmful reduction of their unemployment and sickness benefits. They aren’t responsible for excessive federal spending, and no other industry in our country has to face this cut. The REEF Act will right that wrong, ensuring the men and women who keep our trains moving receive the critical benefits they deserve in full,” said Senator Fischer.
“Railroads provide valuable transportation and shipping routes that keep America moving and their workers deserve the same access to unemployment insurance, like every other American. The REEF Act will do just that and I am glad to join my colleagues in the House and Senate on this important issue,” said Congressman Bacon.
“We deeply thank Senator Fischer, Representative Schakowsky, and all the original cosponsors for helping us advocate for railroader’s sickness and unemployment benefits. We look forward to working alongside them to restore equity across unemployment insurance programs,” said Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies.
"The REEF Act will ensure that rail workers and their families receive all of the unemployment and sickness benefits they have earned. For more than a decade, rail workers have been short-changed and it's time for Congress to correct this injustice. We applaud Senators Fischer, Klobuchar, and Brown and Reps. Schakowsky, Fitzpatrick, Larsen, Bacon, Garcia, and Stauber for introducing the REEF Act and we urge Congress to act swiftly before sequestration of these benefits resumes in May,” said AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Greg Regan.
“We appreciate the bipartisan leadership that is moving this important bill forward. The rail industry is a great place to work and this measure helps keep it that way – making sure workers get the benefits they’re due, and railroads are able to attract top-level talent to a workforce critical to the U.S. economic engine,” said American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) President Chuck Baker.
Background:
Railroad unemployment and sickness benefits are funded solely by railroads’ and railroad workers’ contributions. The Budget Control Act of 2011 and subsequent implementation mandates require railroad unemployment and sickness benefits to be reduced by a certain percentage each year. All other regular unemployment benefits are exempt from sequestration. Without the REEF Act, sequestration will likely result in a 5.7 percent reduction in railroad unemployment and sickness benefits through fiscal year 2030.
While a temporary version of the REEF Act was included in the COVID-19 relief bill passed in December 2020, that measure will expire on May 10, 2023, 30 days after the expiration of COVID-19 national emergency declaration. Without this legislation, these benefits would be subject to sequestration through FY 2030.
In the Senate, the REEF Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
Click here to view text of the legislation.
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