Call to Action: Protect the RS Plan

Introduction of legislation designed to protect the Retirement Security (RS) Plan from unnecessary cost increases in the coming years was announced to all cooperative CEOs and others in the August 4 edition of “Notes from NRECA”:

NRECA Supports Bill to Protect Pension Benefits, Urge Your House Members to Cosponsor

Electric co-ops are actively supporting bipartisan House legislation to reduce Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. insurance premiums paid by NRECA’s Retirement Security Plan by more than 80 percent ($30 million just in 2017). The Rightsizing Pension Premiums Act of 2017 ( H.R. 3596) would also reduce pension premiums for co-ops with their own defined-benefit pension plans. Go to Action.coop and join your statewide associations and NRECA in urging your House members to cosponsor H.R. 3596. Ask co-op employees to join in this pocketbook issue that affects their future. NRECA signed a letter with rural co-ops and charities supporting the bill led by Reps Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ron Kind (D-WI). The bill is bill similar to legislation the Senate Finance Committee unanimously passed last year.

That was the initial CEO level call to action. Now we are asking for your help.

By joining other co-op employees across the country, you can make your voice heard to protect these vital retirement benefits.

You and your co-op’s employees can visit Action.coop and click “Take Action,” then “Protect Your RS Plan Pension Benefits.” Users can fill in their contact information and use pre-developed templates to send a message to their Congressional representatives asking them to support and pass H.R. 3596, the “Rightsizing Pension Premiums Act of 2017.”

This legislation will greatly reduce the insurance premiums paid by the RS Plan to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation by over 80%.

This legislation would “finish the job” begun when we successfully advocated for enactment of the Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act of 2014, which saves co-ops millions of dollars a year and repealed the federal deficit reduction contribution that could have made rates even more unpredictable and expensive.

You can use this template message to inform your co-op employees of this opportunity and how they can take action with respect to H.R. 3596.