By: Russ Kamp, Managing Director, Ryan ALM, Inc.

Not sure if it was a case of Spring fever or the PGA golf event in Rochester, NY, (how about Michael Block?), or just an overwhelming array of applications to get through, but the week ending May 19th didn’t produce a lot of “results” for the PBGC and their implementation of the ARPA legislation. In fact, there were only two reported actions during the week and both involved the same pension plan, and I’m confused as to the actual events. Plasterers and Cement Masons Local No. 94 Pension Fund submitted and withdrew their application on the same day – May 15th. In somewhat of a chicken-and-egg scenario, did this fund submit and then withdraw its application or did it withdraw an application that had already been submitted, made the appropriate edits, and then resubmit? I’ll have to do some further research to see if I can determine the path that this application traveled.

In any case, this MPRA Suspension and Partition Priority Group 2 plan is only seeking $3.2 million for its 108 plan participants. Priority Group 2 plans began submitting applications way back at the end of 2021. It certainly has taken some time for this plan to get the application to a point that meets the PBGC’s needs. As a reminder, MPRA Suspension and Partition plans had seen benefits cut under 2014’s legislation. These plan participants have waited a long time to get the promised benefits reinstated, while also being made whole for the previously lost pension earnings. Let’s hope that their wait isn’t much longer.