BRYAN, Ohio — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, stopped by the Spangler Candy Company headquarters in Bryan, Ohio to discuss recently passed pension security measures with company and Teamsters Local 20 leaders.
Brown helped integrate the Butch Lewis Act into American Rescue Plan. The act is structured to secure retirement benefit funds for 30 years for workers and retirees in endangered pension plans.
According to Brown’s office, this saved Spangler $200,000 per employee, allowed the company to add Bit-O-Honey production to its operations and will create 40 new union jobs.
The bill will also restore benefits for retirees who had to take cuts and increase the maximum Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation insurance amount while also requiring each plan receiving assistance to be accompanied by regular status reports to the corporation and congressional committees.