Hatch, Brown Announce Organizing Meeting Of Joint Select Committee On Pensions

WASHINGTON – Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pensions Plans, today announced the first meeting of the full committee next Wednesday, March 14, 2018, at 10 a.m. During the organizational meeting, members will adopt committee rules and make opening statements. Wednesday’s meeting is the first of many public meetings to come as the committee works toward a bipartisan solution to the multiemployer pension plan crisis.

“There are more than a million workers and retirees all across the country who are counting on us to protect their retirement security,” said Hatch and Brown. “We’re ready to get to work on a bipartisan solution and make sure that those who participate in a retirement plan through their employer can adequately save for their future.”

WHAT: Organizing Meeting of the Joint Pension Committee

WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Finance Committee Hearing Room
215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Hatch is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over pension issues, and Brown serves as a senior member on Finance. The senators are joined on the joint committee by: U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Rob Portman (R-OH), Heidi Heitkamp (D-NC) and Tina Smith (D-MN), and U.S. Reps. Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Phil Roe (R-TN), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Donald Norcross (D-NJ) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI).

About the Committee
The Joint Select Committee was created as part of the overall budget compromise that passed in February. The committee will have instructions to report a bill by the last week of November, and will be required to hold at least five public meetings, including the option of field hearings outside of D.C., so members of Congress can hear directly from retirees, workers and businesses affected by the pension crisis. The solution the committee produces will be guaranteed an expedited vote in the Senate without amendments.

Details on the Joint-Select Committee to Solve the Pensions Crisis:
· The committee will be made up of 16 members to be appointed by House and Senate leaders. The members will include eight Senators and eight House members, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.
· The committee has instructions to report a bill to solve the pension crisis by the final week of November.
· If at least five members from each party agree on a compromise, the solution the committee produces will be guaranteed an expedited vote on the Senate floor with no amendments.
· The committee will be required to hold at least five public meetings, including the option of field hearings outside of D.C. for the committee to hear directly from retirees, workers and businesses affected by the pension crisis.

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