More than 61,000 Michigan workers are protected by Biden’s American Rescue Plan

President Joe Biden’s administration announced that the pensions of more than one million workers would be protected from cuts under the American Rescue Plan, including more than 61,000 workers and retirees in the state of Michigan.

MICHIGAN – A federal law signed by President Joe Biden has effectively prevented cuts to pensions and retirement benefits for more than a million workers and retirees – including more than 61,000 Michigan residents, according to data released by the White House last month.

“Whether it’s Social Security, Medicare or pensions, workers who have earned a dignified retirement through decades of hard work and sacrifice should never see their benefits cut because of broken promises or policies that favor the wealthy over working families,” Biden said in a opinion.

Federal officials and U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) announced this “major” milestone in the Biden administration’s first term at a press conference last month, citing the more than 1 million pensions that have been protected since the law was passed in 2021.

These include pensions from more than 61,000 Michigandersin addition to thousands of other workers and retirees in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Missouri and Wisconsin.

In total, the law protected the retirement benefits of over 500,000 Teamsters, over 100,000 food and retail workers, and over 100,000 steel and auto workers.

“That means building the economy from the middle and from the bottom up and protecting the dignity of work,” Biden said in a statement announcing the latest milestone.

This is the deal:

The American Rescue Plan included a measure known as “Butch Lewis Act”, named in honor of the Ohio union leader and pension activist who secured billions of dollars in funding for help replenish approximately 200 underfunded multi-employer pension plans across the country.

Federal officials say the federal funds included in the American Rescue Plan will ultimately ensure that the pension plans of about two million American workers and retirees can pay their full benefits and remain solvent – at least for the next few decades.

What’s new?

The last round of federal funding will help to improve pensions and retirement benefits for more than 103,000 members of the Bakery and Confectionery Union and International Industry Pension Fund– which covers manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the bakery and candy industries. Federal regulators have called these pension funds some of the largest and most financially troubled multiemployer pension plans in the United States.

Without help from the American Rescue Plan, these workers and retirees who have already earned their benefits would have faced a 45 percent cut in their benefits by the end of the decade, federal officials say. Instead, they will now receive their full benefits through at least 2051.

This is the second-largest settlement to date under the Butch Lewis Act, officially bringing the total number of pensions protected by the American Rescue Plan nationwide to over one million.

So what?

Federal data shows that the Biden administration has now helped 83 pension plans, preventing an average 37% benefit cut for more than a million retirees and workers – more than half of whom had already seen their pensions and retirement benefits cut.

The American Rescue Plan also restored reduced pension levels for more than 120,000 retirees, officials said, who have since been able to recover thousands of dollars in lost benefits.

The Biden administration has described the latest federal financial assistance as “Most significant” effort to ensure the solvency of the company pension system in almost 50 years.

READ MORE: 3 years later: What does Biden’s American Rescue Plan do for Michigan?

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