By: Russ Kamp, CEO, Ryan ALM, Inc.

Welcome to the first update since Spring sprang last week. Given that snow was in the forecast for the Northeast, we have a way to go before it feels like baseball season in NJ.

Regarding the implementation of ARPA, the PBGC was fairly busy last week. It has been a while since we saw a Priority Group 1 member file an application. As of last week, there were 6 Group 1 members that had not gotten approval for SFA. The Union de Tronquistas de Puerto Rico Local 901 Pension Plan, from San Juan, PR, submitted a revised application seeking $37.5 million for its 3,397 members. The PBGC will have until July 18, 2025, to render a decision or the plan automatically receives the grant.

In other ARPA news, Alaska Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Pension Plan, a non-Priority Group member, received approval for their revised SFA application. They will receive $109.3 million for 1,722 plan participants. This is the 114 multiemployer plan to receive an SFA award. Grants now total $71.3 billion that support 1.54 million American workers.

Lastly, there were no applications denied or excess SFA repaid, but there were two applications withdrawn. Local 888 Pension Fund and Laborers’ Local No. 91 Pension Plan each withdrew their initial application. In total, these plans were seeking $177.9 million for just under 4,400 members.

There remains significant work ahead for the PBGC that must review and approve nearly 90 applications. It took the PBGC more than 3 1/2 years to approve the first 114. If I remember correctly, this legislation wraps up at the end of 2026. Let’s hope that the critical impediments that created fits and starts are now behind them and it is full steam ahead.