As we reported last week, the long wait BLET members and other railroaders must endure to receive earned retirement benefits may soon be over. On July 30, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted 22-0 to advance the bipartisan Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Stability Act of 2026 (S. 4965), which would give the RRB the long-term funding it needs to better serve railroad workers.
BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference have led the way in advocating for passage of the bill. BLET and the Rail Conference lobbied as part of a labor-management coalition including the Association of American Railroads; Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD); and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
The labor-management group outlined its position in a letter to Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who introduced the legislation on July 14, along with Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
“This legislation will revolutionize the RRB’s ability to serve rail workers,” said Mark Wallace, who serves as the National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and as President of the Teamsters Rail Conference. “With the passage of this legislation, the RRB will be able to spend a small percentage of the taxes it collects from railroad workers and the railroads and use it to administer the benefits our members and other railroaders have earned while still ensuring Congressional oversight of the RRB. Now that it has passed through the Senate HELP Committee, BLET strongly urges Congress to enact this legislation so that the RRB can fully serve railroaders and their families. We want to thank and recognize Chairman Cassidy and Ranking Member Sanders and their staffs for their leadership and support on this vital issue and look forward to working with them to make this legislation law.”
Years of chronic underfunding have left RRB with outdated computer systems and starkly reduced staffing levels that have hindered its important work. Among other issues, workers must wait on average over 440 days for an initial adjudication of applications for RRB disability benefits if they are injured on the job.
In 2001, Congress created the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust to invest on behalf of the RRB and its trust funds. Since then, the Trust’s assets — provided by payroll taxes paid by rail workers and employers — have continued to grow, making the railroad retirement system self-sustaining. Yet, under current law — and despite large revenues from the Trust — Congress annually caps the amount of funding the RRB can use from its own resources for administrative expenses. The bill would switch to a formula system to provide a predictable funding stream allocated from its own trust fund while maintaining Congressional oversight. The bill would also allow for targeted funding in the first five years to ensure that RRB completes a full transition from its legacy operating systems to a new, more efficient system.
The bill now moves to the full Senate for a vote. The BLET and Rail Conference will continue to advocate for the bill so it can become law by the end of the year.