From Utah to Alabama and points in between, retirees rallied at the Ohio Statehouse to demand actions to save their pensions last week.

The pensions of more than 60,000 Ohioans and more than 1 million Americans are at risk, making times difficult for retired steelworkers, coal miners, tobacco workers, teamsters and more. The pension funds are slowly collapsing as they have been since the Wall Street crisis of 2008.  

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown says he has a plan to save the pensions and his Republican counterpart, Sen. Rob Portman, says he is on board.

The pair sponsored a field hearing in Ohio, bringing Congress members and rallying pensioners to the Statehouse.  

“They [lawmakers] never hesitated to pick up and take care of the banks when they bailed them out. They never hesitated to bail out the car industry,” Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said. Manchin is part of the committee that is considering Brown’s bill.

“Some people don’t want a government program here, but the fact is that there’s a government insurance policy for pensions,” Brown said.  “If we do not act, over 1 million pensioners are hurt immediately and directly. Then, hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses are hurt.”

The pension committee heard from employers, retirees and even widows who are all desperate for federal help.  Brown is confident he can get bipartisan support in both houses for his bill to bolster the pension program.