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

Another Monday and another update on the progress of the PBGC in implementing the ARPA legislation providing Special Financial Assistance (SFA) for eligible multiemployer pension plans.

This past week was not particularly notable as only 1 new application was submitted for review, while one other plan received approval for their SFA application. That doesn’t mean that a ton of work wasn’t being done behind the scenes, as there currently are 23 applications in the review queue. The latest addition to that list is the Printing Local 72 Industry Pension Plan that is seeking $38.1 million for its 787 plan participants.

Congratulations to the members of the Paper Handlers’ – Publishers’ Pension Plan as its revised application was approved for just over $20 million, including interest, for the 244 participants in that plan. This latest approval brings to 65 the number of plans receiving SFA grants. The total allocation to date of SFA and interest is $53.5 billion.

There still remain 92 pension plans on the waiting list to submit the SFA applications in addition to the 23 applications that are currently in the queue to be reviewed. According to the legislation, this activity needs to be completed by December 31, 2025.