PRINTER'S NO. 3520
No. 488 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY LESCOVITZ, DeWEESE, DeLUCA, BEBKO-JONES, BELARDI,
BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CLYMER, CORRIGAN, CURRY,
MANDERINO, DALLY, FICHTER, GEORGE, HERSHEY, HUTCHINSON,
LAUGHLIN, MANN, McCALL, McGILL, MICHLOVIC, ROSS, SCHULER,
SOLOBAY, THOMAS, WASHINGTON, YOUNGBLOOD, TURZAI, D. EVANS,
FREEMAN, GRUCELA, HORSEY, JAMES, LEDERER, MARKOSEK, McGEEHAN,
MELIO, PETRONE, SANTONI, SHANER, STABACK, TRAVAGLIO,
WOJNAROSKI AND YUDICHAK, MARCH 27, 2002
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
MARCH 27, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the President and Congress of the United States to
2 provide Federal relief for steel industry retiree health care
3 costs.
4 WHEREAS, Much of the domestic steel industry is heavily
5 burdened by overwhelming retiree health care costs, or legacy
6 costs, due to the massive layoffs of the 1970s and 1980s which
7 were necessary to make domestic steel producers some of the most
8 efficient and competitive in this advanced global market; and
9 WHEREAS, These layoffs increased the retiree-to-employee
10 ratio to nearly three to one and increased the difficulty for
11 domestic steel producers to maintain benefits for retired
12 employees; and
13 WHEREAS, An average of 10% of the cost of a ton of steel goes
14 directly to retiree pension and health care funds for many of
15 the largest producers of steel in the United States; and
1 WHEREAS, Approximately 600,000 retirees, surviving spouses
2 and dependents receive health care benefits from domestic steel
3 companies, with the largest and most vulnerable of these
4 companies providing retiree health care benefits to
5 approximately 100,000 retirees, surviving spouses and
6 dependents; and
7 WHEREAS, Because 29 domestic steel companies have declared
8 bankruptcy since the Asian financial crisis of 1998, retiree
9 health care benefits are at risk as a cost-cutting measure; and
10 WHEREAS, Retirees displaced by plant shutdowns shoulder the
11 burden of their medical costs as they may be unable to afford or
12 qualify for private health insurance programs or may not qualify
13 for Medicare coverage; and
14 WHEREAS, The United Steelworkers of America, realizing the
15 risk to individuals and families, has called for Federal action
16 to protect the health care benefits of domestic steelworker
17 retirees; therefore be it
18 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
19 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and Congress of
20 the United States to take all necessary action to preserve the
21 health care benefits of steel industry retirees; and be it
22 further
23 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
24 the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
25 each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from
26 Pennsylvania.
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