Staff report

A renewed effort to aid salaried Delphi retirees obtain pension benefits was thwarted Tuesday.

The Dayton Daily News reported U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina., prevented the advancement of an amendment to a $1 billion spending package. Foxx chairs the House Rules Committee, where the amendment required its approval.

The amendment was tied to a defense spending and policy bill. President Trump had pushed for its passage.

Foxx, in an exchange with U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said a lawmaker had objected to the measure. The lawmaker was not named.

“There’s a point of order against it, and the Rules Committee does not waive points of order,” Foxx told Turner.

“We were looking forward to you considering waiving the point,” Turner said.

Turner then noted the amendment had the backing of Speaker Mike Johnson, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Trump.

Unmoved, Foxx closed debate on the bill without including the amendment, the Dayton Daily News said.

The newspaper said Turner told CNN that the Rules Committee’s failure to incorporate the measure forced him to vote against several House votes Tuesday.

“We didn’t support this rule because this rule was supposed to include the pensions and restoring these pensions,” Turner said.

“This is an injustice. The Delphi salaried retirees were the only people in the General Motors bankruptcy who had their pensions taken by the government.”

Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, called on the U.S. House “to find a speedy solution to this matter and ensure the Delphi pension restoration measure can move forward. We then urge the Senate to act quickly to approve the legislation, get it to the president and finally correct this longstanding injustice.”

The Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to Johnson and asked for a supplemental budget request that includes $1 billion for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which oversaw Delphi employees’ pensions. Union pensions for hourly employees were fully funded, but the retirees were denied the same considerations.

There are more than 21,000 salaried retirees nationwide affected by this, including about 5,100 in Ohio. Most of the ones impacted in Ohio are in the Dayton area with several in the Mahoning Valley.

Even if the House had passed the bill with Turner’s Delphi amendment, it needs support in the Senate and it requires Trump’s signature. Under the proposal, the retirees would receive a lump sum payment covering the pension benefits they should have received with 6% interest added to account for the delay.

Others backing the request include U.S. Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, and Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who represent the Mahoning Valley in the House.