Candidates convene for pension rally
A rally at the state Capitol to protect pensions was the place to be seen Tuesday for leading Minnesota Democrats, including the crop of declared or potential candidates for governor.
U.S. Reps. Rick Nolan and Tim Walz, state Reps. Erin Murphy and Paul Thissen and Attorney General Lori Swanson all addressed the crowd of pensioners wearing shirts and holding up signs with the slogan “Stop The Pension Cuts.”
Rally organizers were pushing a new proposal in Congress that would add pension guarantees and provide a bailout to a troubled pension insurance system. The bill would shore up the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which is increasingly under strain and feeding worries of benefit cuts.
Walz, who represents the 1
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District and has announced a bid for governor, said Congress owes it to retirees to protect their pensions.
“If a woman or a man in this country works hard and shakes a hand and makes a deal, somebody damn sure better honor that deal,” Walz said. “Somebody better make sure that that money is there when it comes time to pay out.”
Nolan, of the 8
th
District, said retirees who risk losing out played a vital role in building an economy that is the envy of the world.
“Where is the gratitude? Where is the recognition? It’s one attack after another on the union movement and now pension benefits for working men and women,” he said. “We cannot, under any circumstances let that happen.”
Nolan said he’s still weighing a run for governor but probably won’t decide until July.
After her speech, Swanson wouldn’t provide a timetable for deciding on whether to seek another term as attorney general or try to move up.
“I still think it’s early. I know a lot of candidates are jumping in early” she said. “People have encouraged it. I’m flattered by the encouragement.”
She and Murphy both spoke about being daughters of former General Motors workers who relied on auto industry pensions in retirement.
Murphy said her dad, an 84-year-old, “he owns his home, his car and has a little bit of money on the side. He is a proud man, proud for earning his way into a secure middle class. That is what our hard work yields for us.”
Murphy, a former House majority leader, has entered the race for governor. Thissen, the former House speaker, has said he is seriously considering it.
State Auditor Rebecca Otto and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, neither of whom spoke at the rally, are also in the 2018 race for the DFL