‘Unjustly taken;’ Ohio lawmaker reintroducing bill to restore lost Delphi retiree pensions

WASHINGTON D.C. — Members of the House, including an area Congressman, are planning to restart their efforts this month to pass legislation that would restore full pensions for Delphi retirees.

The Delphi Salaried Retirees group has been trying for the last 14 years to get their benefits restored. At least 20,000 workers lost their retirement benefits in the General Motors bailout in 2009.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: House passes bill to restore pensions for Delphi retirees 13 years after GM bankruptcy

The Susan Muffley Act, which was first introduced in March 2022, would restore the full vested monthly benefits to the non-union Delphi Corporation retirees.

Delphi was acquired by GM during the recession of 2009. GM fell under financial hardship during the recession and was bailed out by the Federal Government. At the direction of the Obama Administration and as a part of the bailout, Delphi employees lost their pensions.

“The bill that would restore the pensions to the Delphi salary retirees, which were unjustly taken in the Delphi bankruptcy and the General Motors bankruptcy as a result of the White House intervention,” U.S. Representative Mike Turner (R-Dayton) said in an interview with News Center 7.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ohio lawmakers continue to fight to restore Delphi retirees’ pensions

The act is named after Susan Muffley, who was part of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Leadership that fought for years to get pensions restored. Muffley’s husband, David, lost his pension, and she avoided seeing a doctor due to the family’s financial restraints. She was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away in August 2012.

Turner joined other bipartisan leaders, including Dan Kidlee (D-Flint Twp., Michigan), Claudia Tenney (R-New York), and Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin) reintroduced the bill to the House of Representatives for passage.

Last year, the House was able to pass the bill, but it failed on the Senate floor.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Brown, Turner running out of time to secure Senate bill to restore pensions for Delphi retirees

“I believe that we have all the support that we had last time. And so if we put it on the House floor, I think that that once again, it will overwhelmingly pass,” said Turner

Turner feels the bill is gaining steam with Senators. However, with newly elected Senators, there is a “learning curve” to understanding this bill is not a pension bailout.

“This is not a pension bailout. These individuals had a fully funded pension where it was taken away from them in the bankruptcy by government. So it needs a government solution. This is not where someone mismanaged the pension fund. And now government is bailing out what should have been there to begin with,” said Turner.

Turner feels as if both Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) seem to be on board with the passing of this act. President Joe Biden has said they he will sign the bill. For the act to get the President’s signature, the bill will need to pass the Senate this time around.

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