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

It is hard to believe that we are nearly two-thirds of the way through 2024. Wasn’t it just Memorial Day and the start of Summer? Furthermore, the PBGC has now been engaged in managing/administering the ARPA legislation for more than 3 years. That also doesn’t seem possible!

There wasn’t a ton of obvious work, as the PBGC’s weekly update only revealed two multiemployer plans filing applications for Special Financial Assistance (SFA) and another plan that received approval for their application. Let’s start with the money. The Retirement Benefit Plan of the Newspaper and Magazine Drivers, Chauffeurs and Handlers Union Local 473 (say that 10 times fast), a non-priority plan, received approval of its revised application. They will receive $31.6 million in SFA plus interest to be used to support the promised benefits for 804 plan participants.

As the information above highlights, there have been 89 successful applications to date. Those SFA recipients have been allocated $67.7 billion in grants for the benefit of 1.34 million American workers. Incredible. There is still more to do, as the 89 successful applications only represent 44% of the potential beneficiaries.

Regarding the rest of the week’s activity, Local 1034 Pension Plan, a non-priority group member, and Southwestern Pennsylvania and Western Maryland Area Teamsters and Employers Pension Fund, a Priority Group 5 member, both submitted revised applications. They are collectively seeking $173.4 million in SFA for just over 4k members. There were no applications denied or withdrawn during the prior 7 days, nor were any plans asked to return a portion of the SFA for overpayment. Lastly, there were no additional plans added to the waitlist, which continues to have 116 members (69 that have yet to file).