Domenici Vows to Block Railroad Retirement Bill

October 20, 2000

Senate Budget Chairman Domenici (R-NM) declared that a railroad retirement reform measure opposed by the Social Security privatization movement will not be enacted this year. "It is not going to be worked out," Domenici told CongressDaily last Friday. "It is not going to pass. "Let's just say it has serious problems and leave it at that."

Domenici and Senators Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Don Nickles (R-OK) courageously bucked both Democratic and Republic leadership in opposing the legislation, which would expand benefits and reduce payroll taxes while allowing a government board to invest workers' contributions in the stock market. GOP leaders are said to believe that the bill will help incumbents in tight races, but critics charge that it is fiscally irresponsible, would set the precedent of allowing the federal government to invest pension funds in the stock market, and its proposed budget scoring would make Social Security reform based upon government investment in the market appear less costly than investment via personal accounts, when in fact the costs would be identical.

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