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

The PBGC team must have been preparing for Valentine’s Day last week, as there is nothing to update this week. However, they continue to show very little love to the 80 pension plans currently on the waitlist and described as plans terminated by mass withdrawal before 2020 plan year. We’ve talked about this class of applicants before. Will these plans’ hope for SFA just wither on the waitlist or is there pending litigation that might break this stalemate?

The PBGC’s eFiling portal remains temporarily closed. This isn’t a big deal since Plasterers Local 79 Pension Plan is the only pension plan on the waitlist, not described as a mass withdrawal casualty, not to submit an initial application yet. It is after December 31, 2025, which was the filing deadline for initial applications, so it will be interesting to see if they do get the opportunity to submit one.

Despite some continuing uncertainties, this program has been a huge success in my opinion, with 155 multiemployer plans receiving Special Financial Assistance (SFA) totaling $75.2 BILLION which is supporting the promised benefits for 1,876,433 American workers/retirees. Congrats to all involved!

We wish for you a wonderful week. We’ll continue to monitor the situation related to the mass withdrawal funds and we’ll report on any news coming from Washington DC or the PBGC. Stay well.