A bipartisan group of lawmakers are taking a different approach, this one legislative, to try to restore the pensions of thousands of Delphi salaried retirees lost when the auto parts maker went bankrupt 12 years ago.

“We’re trying to have some legislative fix that can put money back into these people’s pockets and make them whole. … We’re always looking for ways to help the Delphi salaried folks, and this is just another way,” U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan said.

The Democrat from Howland said if legislation materializes, it more than likely would be included in another bill, not standalone legislation.

There could be a couple of opportunities this year to attach to bills leaving Congress, but Ryan, who has been working with Dayton Republican Mike Turner to make the retirees whole, warned against getting hopes too high.

“But we are working on this as hard as we can and trying to find every avenue possible, and obviously we hope that it’s this year, but it may be next year,” Ryan said Friday. “We’re going to keep trying and hopefully get it done.”

Earlier this week, Turner told the Dayton Daily News that for the first time, real legislation is being negotiated.

“And that’s the new step. Getting to the process where that legislation is finished is what we’re working on now,” he told the newspaper.

The Dayton area, like the Mahoning Valley, contains a large number of salaried retirees. The former Delphi had manufacturing facilities in both communities.

Bruce Gump of Howland, chairman of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, said the group appreciates the efforts of Ryan, Turner and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, the three working to craft the legislation “that will hopefully restore our pension plan similarly to how the labor unions were treated 12 years ago.”

“It is only fair, and right to do so,” Gump said.

This latest action follows news a review of the terminated pension plans of the Biden administration determined that congressional action would be needed to restore the lost pensions.

That came in August after Ryan and other lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, urged the administration to report back with a status on former President Donald Trump’s memo to review the matter.

Trump directed his secretaries of Treasury, Labor and Commerce to come up with recommendations to fix the reduced benefits that happened when the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took responsibility for the pensions in 2009.

When the new administration came on, the deadline on Trump’s order passed, and the lawmakers circled back for answers.

An association of Delphi salaried retirees sued the PBGC in 2009 and has been fighting in court ever since. It has taken the case all the way to U.S. Supreme Court following lower court decisions that dismissed the lawsuit.

The Supreme Court still must agree to hear the case, but the odds of that happening could be slim. According to a U.S. judicial website, just 100 to 150 of the more than 7,000 cases the court is asked to review each year are accepted. Four of the nine justices must vote to accept a case.

rselak@tribtoday.com