Washington, DC – Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10) and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today sent a letter to House leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, requesting the House and Senate include the Susan Muffley Act in any end of year legislation. This letter was signed by Rep. Bryan Steil (WI), Rep. Bill Johnson (OH), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), and Rep. Victoria Spartz (IN).
In 2009, more than 20,000 Delphi Salaried Retirees lost portions of their retirement benefits in the aftermath of the General Motors bailout. Following the bankruptcy filing, the company surrendered its pension obligations to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) as part of its 2009 bankruptcy agreement. The Obama Administration then worked behind closed doors to slash the pensions promised to the 20,000 non-unionized salaried staff.
The Susan Muffley Act works to correct the egregious wrongs and injustices imposed upon the Delphi Salaried Retirees under the Obama Administration and must be considered in any potential year-end legislation.
In part, the lawmakers wrote, “With only one month left in the 117th Congress, passing the Susan Muffley Act must be a high priority. After 13 years of working to fix this injustice, Delphi Salaried Retirees should not have to start over again next Congress. It is imperative that the Senate finally pass the Susan Muffley Act and that President Biden signs the bill into law. Alternatively, the provisions of the Susan Muffley Act could be included in a year-end package. Congress must not remain silent in the face of the thousands of retirees devastated by this injustice.”
A signed copy of the letter can be found here, and a complete text is below.
As the House and Senate begin to consider must pass year-end legislation, we urge you to include the Susan Muffley Act as part of these legislative packages.
As you may know, while facing bankruptcy during the 2009 Great Recession, the Delphi Corporation was acquired by General Motors. As part of the General Motors bailout and restructuring, the Delphi employee pensions were turned over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). While General Motors supplemented the pensions of unionized hourly employees, over 20,000 Delphi Salaried Retirees saw their benefits unfairly slashed between 30 and 70 percent.
In July, the House passed the Susan Muffley Act (H.R. 6929) with a strong bipartisan majority. This legislation would remedy this injustice by restoring Delphi Salaried Retiree pension payments to their full value and providing the Delphi Salaried Retirees with backpay for their missed benefits, with interest. We strongly urge the passage of this critical legislation, either as a standalone bill or as part of any end of year must pass legislation to ensure it becomes law before the end of the 117th Congress.
With only one month left in the 117th Congress, passing the Susan Muffley Act must be a high priority. After 13 years of working to fix this injustice, Delphi Salaried Retirees should not have to start over again next Congress. It is imperative that the Senate finally pass the Susan Muffley Act and that President Biden signs the bill into law. Alternatively, the provisions of the Susan Muffley Act could be included in a year-end package. Congress must not remain silent in the face of the thousands of retirees devastated by this injustice.
We appreciate your attention to this time-sensitive matter and look forward to working with you to restore the Delphi Salaried Retirees’ full benefits.
Background:
The “Susan Muffley Act” provides backpay for the pension payments that should have been received for the past 13 years via a lump sum payment equivalent to the difference between any benefits that have paid out and what retirees would have been paid without limitations, plus 6 percent interest. It would also restore full pension payments going forward as if never disrupted. There are more than 21 thousand Delphi retirees impacted by this legislation, with approximately 5,180 retirees residing in Ohio.
Since 2009, Congressman Turner has been working closely with the Delphi Salaried Retiree Association (DRSA) to restore their benefits throughout the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations.
In October 2020, at the urging of Congressman Turner, former President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the PBGC to examine the financial status of Delphi Salaried Retirees’ pension fund and to investigate administrative or legislative pathways for the restoration of the fund.
In December 2021, Turner filed an Amicus Brief when the DSRA filed for Cert with the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dennis Black, et al. v. PBGC case. This past January the case was denied cert, thus Turner authored the “Susan Muffley Act” as the only option to wholly restore the pensions.
In July 2022, President Joe Biden issued a statement of administrative policy in support of the legislation that would restore the Delphi retirees’ pensions.
Most recently, the Susan Muffley Act passed the House with bipartisan support 254-175, but has faced roadblocks in the Senate.
###