Senators push for Railroad Retirement Board modernization in new bill
8/5/2026
By Bridget Dean, Senior Associate Editor
Approved July 30 by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), a bill to modernize how the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) operates is making its way through Congress.
The bill’s supporters say the legislation will improve the benefit claims process, and therefore quality of life, for railroad workers.
The RRB is the entity which processes retirement and unemployment benefit claims for railroad workers and their families. On July 14, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced the Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act of 2026 (S.B. 4965). The bill aims to tackle a growing backlog of claims by allowing the RRB to use surplus trust funds to address understaffing and aging technology infrastructure. Currently, workers wait an average of 18 months to receive certain benefits, according to the HELP Committee.
Joining HELP Committee Chair Cassidy to introduce the bill were Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the committee; Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chair of the HELP Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety; and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
Congress established the RRB in 1935 to operate a benefit system for rail workers based on collected payroll taxes. In 2001, Congress established the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, which has grown in surplus since its establishment, according to a one-page briefing from the HELP Committee. However, Congressional accounting rules classify the RRB’s administrative funding the same as programs which receive general revenue funding, meaning the RRB must compete for administrative funding with other government agencies and programs, despite having its own funding source.
Dedicated funding silos
S.B. 4965 would amend the current legislature to allow the RRB to transfer funds from its Railroad Retirement Account, Society Security Equivalent Benefits Account and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Administration Fund to a dedicated admin account. The bill places strict limitations on the amount of funding that can be moved into the admin account based on the total amount distributed in benefits or the amount remaining in the trust fund at the end of the prior year.
Additionally, funds obligated from the Social Security Account and Unemployment Fund may only be used for administrative expenses related to those accounts.
Within the new RRB admin account, S.B. 4965 would also create a temporary Railroad Retirement Technology Fund to support the overhaul of the RRB’s legacy benefit processing systems. Money from the new admin account would be transferred to the Technology Fund and used to complete a full operating system transition. Any funding not used by the end of a five-year period would be returned to the general admin account.
Broad support
The HELP Committee held a hearing about the RRB in February, during which stakeholders could share their concerns with the committee. Jeff Joines from the Teamsters Rail Conference highlighted how the outdated systems and reduced staffing at the RRB have led to workers waiting over a year for just initial decisions on disability benefits following workplace injuries, said Mark Wallace, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and Teamsters Rail Conference in a letter of support for the legislation.
Other union supporters include the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO, according to a release from the HELP Committee. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD) also issued a letter in support of the bill after it passed committee review.
“Railroad Retirement isn't just a promise made to workers. It's the foundation that has helped make railroad careers among the strongest blue-collar jobs in America,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson. “Protecting that stability helps recruit the next generation, retain experienced employees, maintain the skilled workforce that keeps freight and passengers moving safely across the country, and deliver the benefits necessary to the men and women who have kept this country moving, no matter the cost.”
S.B. 4965 has also drawn support from non-labor groups, including the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
“This may not make national headlines, but it’s good, smart, competent government,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker. “This will support a functional retirement program for hundreds of thousands of railroaders far into the future, without costing the American taxpayer a single penny.”
