WASHINGTON, D.C. — The “Butch Lewis Act,” named after the late Ohio truck driver and Teamster, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night in a 264 to 169 vote.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, where it is set to face an uphill battle.

About 1.3 million Americans, including over 60,000 Ohioans, have multiemployer pension plans that are at risk of going bankrupt over the next 10 years.

If the Butch Lewis Act becomes law, it would provide low-interest, 30-year loans to help keep some of those pension plans alive.

Lewis died in 2015 after suffering a stroke that was caused, in part, by stress related to finding out that his pension would be cut in half. His widow, Rita Lewis, has since become a pension reform advocate on Capitol Hill.

In February, Rita attended the State of the Union address in Washington for the second time as the guest of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

She spoke with reporters ahead of the president’s speech, saying of pensioners: “We are a viable asset. We contribute hugely to this economy because, when you’re seniors, you don’t really say very much, but you spend. And if our pensions, which were paid for, promised, and guaranteed, if they are gone or become insolvent, we’re going to end up on the doorstep of the federal government applying for assistance.”

Eight of Ohio’s 16 members of the House voted for the bill, including all four Democrats and four Republicans.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-09), who introduced the original version of the bill back in 2015, said the legislation is a no-brainer.

When asked what needs to be done to convince the Senate to pass it, Kaptur said, “I think that [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell holds the key. And in Kentucky, there are thousands of miners who are retired. Truckers. People who worked hard for a living. He surely knows lots of them. And I think if Senator McConnell chooses to bring it up, it could happen.”

But like certain House Republicans, there are Senate Republicans who don’t agree with how the legislation would pay to keep the pensions alive.

Ohio’s two U.S. senators, Brown and Portman (R-OH), are key players in the pension reform discussion. Both serve on the Senate Finance Committee that works on pensions, and they are the top Republican and Democrat on a subcommittee dedicated strictly to the subject. Last year, the two senators were part of a bipartisan, bicameral committee tasked with solving the pension crisis. The committee ran out of time before coming up with a solution.

In a statement, Portman’s spokeswoman Emily Benavides said: “Senator Portman supports the goals of the Butch Lewis Act, but there remain significant concerns about its cost to taxpayers and whether it addresses the structural problems under current law, as outlined by the Congressional Budget Office.  He will continue to work with Senator Brown to develop a comprehensive bipartisan solution to the multiemployer pension crisis based on the bipartisan framework developed by last year’s Joint Select Committee.”

In his own statement, Brown said: “We must solve this crisis for the workers, retirees and small businesses who are counting on us, and the Butch Lewis Act is one way to do that. I am committed to continuing to work with Senator Portman to find a bipartisan solution that can pass the Senate.”

On Wednesday, as the Butch Lewis Act was about to be passed in the House, Brown reintroduced the Senate version, which 26 other senators have cosponsored, but no Republicans.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-16), who voted against the House version, released a statement that echoed Portman’s thoughts: “The legislation we voted on [Wednesday] does not fix structural problems, is not a fiscally responsible solution, and will likely not be passed in the Senate.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-03), who voted for it, said the bill “will provide the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) the flexibility to guarantee that endangered multiemployer pension plans have dedicated funding streams to continue to operate and distribute benefits to current and future retirees.”

The legislation will need to pass the Senate in order to become law.