Funding for the Railroad Retirement Board

Since the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is a federal agency, it is required to submit a fiscal year budget in preparation for the President’s yearly budget review. Present day, the Railroad Retirement Board funding is $128M. The President’s FY24 budget for the Railroad Retirement Board is $138.575M. While this is an increase, it only supports around 729 full-time employees.  

As of now, the RRB is operating at 18% below its minimum staffing level. 25% of those employees are eligible for retirement. This percentage will increase to almost one-third within two years. Therefore, the RRB actually needs to be funded in the amount of $173,744M for the fiscal year 2024 to support 880 full-time employees. This is the same amount requested in the fiscal year 2023. The FY24 number also includes an overdue and long-delayed $10M project desperately needed to modernize our IT networks. If the RRB receives an increase in funding, they can employ a staff of 880 full-time employees, which is desperately needed to hire, train, and manage proper succession planning.  

Unfortunately, the RRB has been understaffed, underfunded, and working with outdated IT systems for years. It is crucial that the RRB is able to evolve into modern IT to avoid cyberattacks and secure information. Not to mention it is time to invest in new technologies that will benefit the RRB offices so that they can provide essential services to rail workers and beneficiaries.  

NARVRE Members: Take Action!

We are asking that our NARVRE members take action by contacting the representatives in Congress concerning this issue. We should also keep in mind that many NARVRE members have newly elected members who need to hear from constituents. When contacting your House of Representatives or Senator, you simply need to state the following. “Appropriate the necessary funding requests from the Railroad Retirement Board.” The information to contact a state representative or senator is easily found on this website under the section “Resources: Helpful Links.” In addition, you can also call our toll-free numbers at 877-668-3864 and 877-668-3866 to get in contact with the person you need to speak to about funding the Railroad Retirement Board. 

If you still need to become a NARVRE member, we hope you will consider joining today. The dues are small for the large rewards. At NARVRE, we will continuously PROTECT, PRESERVE, and PROMOTE your railroad benefits. You can find us on Facebook, and from there, we can set you up with your local unit. Or you can speak to the local NARVRE affiliate in your area, and they will guide you.