[3] While working in a union, employees barter compensation and benefits with their employer, often trading in raises or higher pay for a retirement plan.
[4] Finally, it requires regular reports to Congress on the status of these pension plans as a preventative measure against future collapse.
Senator Sherrod Brown named this piece of legislation after late Ohioan Estil "Butch" Lewis.
[8] He volunteered to organize and advocate on behalf of his fellow union workers and retirees, working with public officials and the Pension Rights Center to enact counter-legislation to the 2014 benefit cuts.
[10] Both versions of this bill would have created a new division of the United States Treasury to solely deal with the multiemployer pension crisis.
[12] This version of the bill was included as a part of the American Rescue Plan, Congress' 1.9 trillion dollar economic relief package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[5] A common criticism of the Butch Lewis Act is that the bailout bill does not address the structural issues that are causing the pensions to fail.