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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am asking for your support, please review the important information provided in the letter below from Michael Scott, Executive Director of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans-NCCMP. By our IUEC local leaders and members reaching out to Congress, this will reinforce the much-needed relief to the pension and health funds to be considered for future stimulus. Please use the contact information and talking point links provided to contact your Congressman or Congresswoman who can influence the decision while this is in the discussion period. Your voice and emails are needed during this crisis.
On behalf of your General Officers we appreciated your continued efforts to get the job done.
Fraternally,
Larry J. McGann
General Secretary-Treasurer
April 24, 2020
Dear Multiemployer Community,
Today, the President signed H.R. 266 which provided additional authority for the Paycheck Protection Program and support for health care providers. This is commonly referred to as the COVID 3.5 stimulus package. In less than eight weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has put more than 26.4 million Americans out of work and driven Congress and the Federal Reserve to structure more than $20 trillion in financial market liquidity and direct aid to the economy.
The hard work now begins on a broader, more comprehensive stimulus bill (either "CARES 2" or "COVID 4.0") which addresses the areas that have been left out of the previous relief packages. Congress must now include multiemployer pension relief and federal support for COBRA premiums in CARES 2/COVID 4.0. As engaged participating members of the multiemployer community, we all know how important it is to get Congress to act on these two critical priorities.
The crisis in a limited number of systemically important multiemployer pension plans has been deeply exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the related market collapse, and the government mandated shutdown of the U.S. economy. The shutdown of the economy has resulted in millions of unemployed workers and significantly reduced contributions to multiemployer pension and health plans. While the full impact of the health and economic crisis will not be known for some time, there is no doubt that the impact on participants, employers, plans and the PBGC will be severe.
We call on each of you to reach out personally to your Senators and Representatives to impress upon them the urgency of multiemployer pension legislation and COBRA premium support in the next COVID bill.
To assist you, we are attaching the contact information for particularly important Congressional leaders and their staff (the first tab is a priority ranking; the second tab is sorted by state). Below (and attached) are talking points that you may consider using in your outreach.
Please reach out to us if we can provide you with any information or support. If you have the opportunity, please let us know which offices you have contacted.
Regards,
Michael D. Scott
Executive Director
National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans - NCCMP
815 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
mscott@nccmp.org
Phone: (202) 756-4679
Cell: (202) 394-8427
www.nccmp.org
Download:
 Congressional Contact List Pension and COBRA.xlsx
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 Congressional Talking Points.docx
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ECA401k Plan Emergency Coronavirus-Related Distribution Application.pdf
