(Senator Rick Santorum issued the following news release on July 26.)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today introduced S. 3726, the Railroad Retirement Technical Improvement Act of 2006.
“I am pleased to introduce legislation that will bring peace of mind and security to thousands of Pennsylvania railroad retirees,” said Senator Santorum. “Railroads and the hard working men and women who operate them have played a critical role in the history of Pennsylvania. It is essential that these Pennsylvanians, who have given so much to our Commonwealth, receive the benefits they were promised.”
The Railroad Retirement Technical Improvement Act would have the Treasury Department remain the disbursing agent of railroad retirement benefits. Five years ago, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act called for a nongovernmental financial institution to replace the Treasury Department as the disbursing agent of retirement benefits. However, providing a nongovernmental entity with the personal information of thousands of retirees opens up the specter of identity theft, makes many of the debt collection tools available to the Treasury ineffective, and costs the federal government an additional $2 million each year.
Similar legislation, introduced by Representative Don Young of Alaska, passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote on July 25, 2006. Currently, Pennsylvania has over 40,000 retirees and over 12,000 railroad employees.
“The advantages of securing benefits for our retired railroad workers and saving taxpayer dollars are obvious,” said Senator Santorum. “The maintenance of these benefits under the authority of the Treasury Department is a cost efficient and secure means of distributing benefits.”