By: Russ Kamp, Ryan ALM, Inc.

Good morning, and welcome to another update related to the ARPA pension legislation. I hope that your favorite MLB team is doing better than mine. I’ve invested too many years into my teams to change now, but the NY professional sports scene is not great!

Fortunately, the PBGC has done a far better job implementing this critical legislation than any of my teams as they navigate their seasons. As we’ve reported previously, the PBGC is getting down to the knitty gritty, as about 80% of the non-mass termination plans have received SFA.

During the previous week, one pension fund received approval for their SFA application, while another resubmitted a revised application. Teamsters Local 277 Pension Fund, a Hempstead, NY, Teamsters fund will receive $20.6 million in SFA and interest for its 1,633 participants.

Ironworkers’ Local 340 Retirement Income Plan, an Oak Brook, IL, construction union is seeking $42 million in SFA for its 819 members.

Happy to report that there weren’t any applications denied or withdrawn, and there weren’t any previous SFA recipients asked to rebate a portion of the SFA grant due to census errors.

Still no official position on how the PBGC will treat the pre-2020 mass-withdrawal plans, but the post-2025 legal landscape now favors eligibility arguments for those plans. Much more to come!