A recent report from the Inspector General of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has revealed significant savings in taxpayer dollars due to an investigation led by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA). The investigation has resulted in up to $250 million being returned to taxpayers after it was discovered that funds were wrongfully paid for deceased individuals on union pension fund rolls. This is part of a larger $90 billion pension bailout initiated by Democrats.
Senator Cassidy, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, stated, "This gross mismanagement should not surprise anyone. Rather than pursuing substantive reforms to at-risk pension funds, Democrats spent $90 billion of taxpayer funds on a bailout with no accountability." He emphasized the need for continued oversight to ensure all improperly allocated funds are returned.
Earlier this year, Cassidy successfully secured the return of $127 million from the Central States Pension Fund after a report indicated that their bailout request included 3,479 deceased participants. This sum contributes to the estimated $250 million wrongly disbursed as part of the Democratic pension bailout.
To prevent future occurrences, Cassidy has introduced legislation mandating that PBGC verify past and future pension bailout applications against the Full Death Master File. This measure aims to stop taxpayer dollars from funding pensions for deceased individuals and requires PBGC to recover any such "ghost pensions" received by multiemployer plans.
Cassidy expressed his commitment to collaborating with the Trump administration and congressional colleagues to address these issues further.
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