Kaptur Votes to Restore Retirement Benefits to 5,000 Ohio Delphi Retirees
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 6929 – the Susan Muffley Act – to restore retirement benefits to more than 5,000 Delphi retirees in Ohio. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.
Today, the House passed the Susan Muffley Act to restore full retirement benefits to more than 20,000 retirees across the country – including more than 5,000 in Ohio – who worked for Delphi, the now-shuttered automotive parts manufacturer originally created as a division of General Motors. The bill – led by Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-05) and cosponsored by Rep. Kaptur – is named in honor of the late Susan Muffley, whose husband David is one of the Delphi retirees.
After Delphi’s bankruptcy in 2005 and General Motors’ in 2009, responsibility for paying Delphi retirees’ pension benefits was assumed by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). As a result of statutory limits on the maximum benefit amounts PBGC was allowed to pay, Delphi retirees saw a significant reduction in their pensions. The Susan Muffley Act directs PBGC to recalculate Delphi retirees’ benefit amounts without regard to the statutory limits – allowing retirees to finally receive their full pensions.
“The men and women who built up Delphi were made a promise in return for their years of hard work. They were promised a stable and secure retirement during their golden years,” said Rep. Kaptur. “Over the years, American workers have time and again seen these promises broken and the financial security that is rightfully theirs thrown away. Now, the Susan Muffley Act makes good on Delphi’s original promise. By restoring their benefits, thousands of retirees will have a better future – a future they had paid for and earned. In Defiance and Sandusky, Ohio – and across the Midwest and Industrial Heartland – the Susan Muffley Act is a giant step forward to make retirees whole.”
“If you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to retire with dignity,” said Rep. Kildee. “What happened to the Delphi salaried retirees is wrong. While the government rescued General Motors, these workers lost their pensions through no fault of their own. Congress has this opportunity to right this wrong. These hardworking retirees have waited too long to receive the benefits they earned, and I am proud the House passed my legislation today to fix this wrong.”
More information on the Susan Muffley Act can be found here.
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For more information, contact Chris Dalton at chris.dalton@mail.house.gov.