U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced Wednesday they have introduced legislation to end cuts to the Railroad Retirement Board’s Unemployment Insurance Account.
The legislation, the Railroad Employee Equality and Fairness Act, would end the cuts to railroad unemployment benefits put in place due to the Budget Control Act of 2011. A subsequent sequestration order to implement mandated spending cuts has ensured that the railroad unemployment benefits have been reduced by a set percentage subject to revision at the beginning of each fiscal year.
The sequester lasts until 2030. Without this legislation, the senators said, the sequestration is expected to result in a 5.7 percent reduction in railroad unemployment benefits through 2030. Railroad workers are not eligible for federal unemployment insurance benefits, which is not subject to the sequester.
As a result, railroad workers are taking a cut in expected benefits to which the general public is not subject. The senators said the disparity was more important now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the RRB received 35,030 unemployment claims. As of September of this year, because of the pandemic, RRB has received nearly 134,000 claims.
“I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to ensure that unemployed railroad workers receive fair and equal unemployment benefits. This legislation would remove the harmful sequester that largely singled out railroad workers’ unemployment benefits during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the sequester has meant these railroad workers have not received the full unemployment insurance benefits that are due to them. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly five times as many Ohio railroad workers to lose their jobs through no fault of their own, and I urge my colleagues to join me in ensuring they are eligible for the same full unemployment benefits as all Americans,” Portman said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are an estimated 77,700 railroad worker jobs in the United States.
“Our workers are facing enormous challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, and railroad workers have been hit particularly hard,” Klobuchar said. “This legislation ensures railroad employees are eligible for the same benefits as other workers and will help them get through these trying times.”