Please use the Take Action area of the BLET website to contact Congress today, especially if you are represented by a Republican member of Congress, as they are the majority party in the U.S. House this session. Let them know you oppose any funding cuts to the Railroad Retirement Board, and that you support the agency’s requested budget of $172.331 million.
As reported last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies has released its proposed funding bill for FY 25, which would cut $26 million from the RRB’s administrative budget, an almost 21 percent cut from FY 24.
Already understaffed, the proposed budget “would be catastrophic for the RRB,” said John Bragg, Labor Member of the RRB. In a June 26 letter, Bragg outlined the negative impact the budget cuts would have on railroad families:
• longer phone wait times, with peak season wait times of 2-2.5 hours and over hour-long wait times becoming the norm, as well as projected answer rates of only 30-35% of incoming calls;
• field-office closures in railroad communities, and field offices with minimal or no on-site staff, as well as reduced customer service hours;
• longer application processing times, with processing times of 18 months or more likely; and
• indefinite delays for annuity corrections.
Please be sure to Take Action today!