WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) met to consider several bills and voted unanimously to advance S. 4965, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Stability Act of 2026.
Since 1935, the RRB has administered retirement, survivor, disability, unemployment, and sickness benefits for rail workers, retirees, and their families. Despite having a solvent, self-sustaining funding stream — provided by payroll taxes paid by rail workers and employers — the RRB still relies on Congress to determine the amount of administrative funding it may use to pay for the expenses necessary for administering benefits. Years of chronic underfunding have caused temporary closures at RRB field offices around the country, unacceptable mounting delays in processing benefits, and the inability to modernize outdated operating and processing systems that further contribute to an ever-growing claims backlog.
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Stability Act supports the RRB and those who rely on it to function efficiently by making the following changes:
- Currently, 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.
Today’s vote comes just two weeks after Senate HELP leaders Bill Cassidy and Bernie Sanders, along with Senators Banks and Kaine, introduced the bill. Earlier this year, the Committee held a hearing to examine the Railroad Retirement Board and heard expert testimony from rail labor representative Jeff Joines, who serves as Director of Government Affairs for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWE) rail union.
Rail labor and industry groups — including the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), the Association of American Railroads (AAR), American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) — are championing the bipartisan legislation and calling for swift, full passage by Congress. Following the bill’s introduction, the coalition sent a letter to HELP Committee leadership to express their strong support for the bill.
“As America’s largest transportation labor federation, we strongly support the RRB Stability Act,” said Greg Regan, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD). “The benefits that the RRB administers can be lifelines for railroaders and their families, providing access to benefits when they’re needed most. But after years of artificially low administrative funding, beneficiaries have been facing untenable delays in accessing these benefits. For example, injured railroaders are waiting nearly 16 months before knowing if their disability claim will be approved. When receiving disability benefits can make the difference between making the mortgage payment or missing another month, every day counts. Thankfully, this bipartisan bill makes a stable and predictable funding source available to the RRB – funded entirely by railroaders and railroads – so that it can make investments necessary to deliver more efficient service to railroaders and their families.”
“The BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference would like to thank the Senators on both sides of the aisle that voted to advance the Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act of 2026 out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee,” said Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET-IBT) National President and Teamsters Rail Conference President Mark Wallace. “Today’s milestone follows months of outreach from the Rail Conference to Senators and their staff on this issue. This critical piece of legislation, which BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference strongly support, will revolutionize the Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) ability to serve rail workers, including BLET and Teamsters Rail Conference members and their dependents. We strongly urge Congress to enact this legislation so that the RRB can fully serve BLET’s members and their families. I 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.”
“Railroad Retirement isn’t just a promise made to workers. It’s the foundation that has helped make railroad careers among the strongest blue-collar jobs in America,” said SMART-TD President, Jeremy Ferguson. “Protecting that stability helps recruit the next generation, retain experienced employees, maintain the skilled workforce that keeps freight and passengers moving safely across the country, and deliver the benefits necessary to the men and women who have kept this country moving, no matter the cost. A stable Railroad Retirement system supports a stable railroad workforce, and by extension, a stable national supply chain. That’s why this bipartisan legislation makes sense for workers, railroads, shippers, and every American who depends on a strong transportation network. I thank Senators Cassidy and Sanders for their dedication and leadership on this critical piece of legislation, and our National Legislative Office, Brothers Jared Cassity and Don Roach, for their work on the Hill.”
“Our Brotherhood applauds the passage of the Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act of 2026 out of the HELP Committee. If fully enacted, this bill will finally address long-overdue and much-needed fixes to problems that have frustrated BMWED members and their dependents for well over a decade,” said Tony D. Cardwell, President, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED-IBT). “For far too long, the RRB has faced chronic underfunding and budgetary constraints that have resulted in temporary office closures, unacceptable delays on disability claims, longer-than-needed wait times on calls and services, and outdated systems that only worsen the claims backlog. BMWED has led the way in advocating for a permanent fix. This legislation would alleviate those problems by providing a predictable, formula-based funding stream from the RRB’s own self-sustaining trust fund paid for by railroaders and railroads, while still maintaining Congressional oversight. Our Brotherhood strongly supports the passage of this vital legislation and we thank the Senators that voted to advance this critical legislation out of the HELP committee. We also want to thank and recognize Chairman Cassidy and Ranking Member Sanders and their staffs for their leadership and support on this vital issue.”
“For too long, the Railroad Retirement Board has been needlessly caught in the middle of annual budget fights. This is despite the fact that RRB funding doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime as it is funded entirely by our own railroad retirement trust,” said Josh Hartford, Special Assistant to the International President for the International Association of Machinists Union (IAM). “While the railroad retirement system is fully solvent, what remains is ensuring the agency has adequate resources to properly service railroaders and their families. This bill does just that.”
Transportation Communications Union (TCU) National President Matt Hollis stated, “Railroaders are the backbone of our economy. They keep goods moving day and night, rain or shine, 365 days a year. They’ve earned and paid into this system that’s supposed to properly administer their benefits and services, but years of funding uncertainty has too often put railroaders and their families in a bind. The Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act fixes this problem, and Congress should pass it without delay.”
“Railroad workers keep this country moving, and they’ve earned a retirement system that works just as hard for them,” said Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) President Mike Baldwin. “The Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act will help ensure the agency has the technology, staffing, and resources necessary to deliver the timely service our members and their families deserve. This is a practical, bipartisan investment in an agency funded by railroad workers and rail carriers—not taxpayers. The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen applauds Senators Cassidy, Sanders, Banks, and Kaine for coming together to strengthen the Railroad Retirement Board, and we urge Congress to pass this important legislation.”
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