20 11, 2023

Is renewed interest in DB plans real, or just a pipe dream?

2023-11-30T16:52:28-08:00November 20th, 2023|Categories: Defined Benefit Plans|Tags: |

By Brian Croce Source: Pensions & Investments The news around corporate defined benefit plans over the past couple decades has been bleak, with companies expeditiously freezing or terminating plans. But with some help out of Washington, experts say there's an opportunity for employers to reopen plans still on their books or provide their workers with guaranteed income in retirement. "For a sponsor that has a frozen plan that has participants concerned about guaranteed income, you don't necessarily need some [...]

13 04, 2023

PBGC approves supplemental assistance for Teamsters pension plan

2023-04-13T14:07:39-07:00April 13th, 2023|Categories: PBGC|Tags: , , |

By Courtney Degen Source: Pensions & Investments The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on Thursday approved the supplemented special financial assistance application of a New York pension plan for workers and retirees in the transportation industry. New York State Teamsters Conference Pension & Retirement Plan, or NYS Teamsters Conference Plan, will receive $438 million as a supplement to the $963 million in special financial assistance that was approved for the plan in November 2022. President Joe Biden signed the Special [...]

8 12, 2022

Biden announces $36 billion in federal aid for struggling Central States Teamsters plan

2022-12-08T09:53:00-08:00December 8th, 2022|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: , , , |

By Brian Croce Source: Pensions & Investments President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has approved $36 billion in federal assistance to shore up a massive union multiemployer pension plan facing steep cuts. Teamsters Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Chicago, will receive the funds under the Special Financial Assistance Program. The program, created by the American Rescue Plan Act that Democrats passed in March 2021, was designed to shore up struggling [...]

22 11, 2021

PBGC pension fund programs now on solid footing

2021-11-22T15:41:09-08:00November 22nd, 2021|Categories: PBGC|Tags: , |

By Brian Croce Source: Pensions & Investments The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s single-employer and multiemployer programs each had positive net funding positions at the end of the fiscal year for the first time in nearly two decades, according to the agency's fiscal year 2021 annual report. The long-troubled multiemployer program improved to a net funding position of $481 million at the end of fiscal year 2021, compared with a $63.7 billion shortfall at the end of the previous fiscal [...]

17 11, 2021

American Rescue Plan Act Turns Things Around for PBGC Multiemployer Plan Program

2021-11-17T09:09:00-08:00November 17th, 2021|Categories: PBGC|Tags: , |

By Rebecca Moore Source: Plan Sponsor The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Annual Report, which shows its multiemployer plan insurance program has a positive net position of $481 million at the end of FY 2021—a sharp contrast to the program’s deficit of $63.7 billion at the end of FY 2020. The agency’s multiemployer plan program is now likely to remain solvent for more than 30 years, due to the enactment of the [...]

9 07, 2021

PBGC and IRS Issue Guidance on Special Financial Assistance for Financially Troubled Multiemployer DB Pension Plans; Comments Requested

2021-07-09T15:17:41-07:00July 9th, 2021|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: , , , |

Source: IFEBP The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance on Special Financial Assistance (SFA) for financially troubled multiemployer defined benefit (DB) pension plans. PBGC issued an interim final rule implementing a new SFA Program. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) — passed by Congress and signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021 — contains provisions to provide an estimated $94 billion in assistance to eligible plans that are severely underfunded. Additionally, it assists [...]

17 06, 2021

PBGC ‘To-Do’ List: Work on Benefits, Penalties and More

2021-06-17T16:55:39-07:00June 17th, 2021|Categories: PBGC|Tags: |

By John Iekel Source: ASPPA The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in its spring regulatory agenda enumerates a variety of proposals and actions close to implementation that will address benefits payments, assistance, valuation assessments, penalties and more. Proposals The following proposed rules are on the PBGC’s radar screen. Valuation Assumptions and Methods. The PBGC proposes a rule on valuation assumptions and methods concerning interest and mortality assumptions for asset allocation in single-employer plans, and concerning mass withdrawal liability determination [...]

21 04, 2021

What Comes After 2051 Pension Relief Sunset? It Depends, Attorneys Say

2021-05-13T08:05:23-07:00April 21st, 2021|Categories: Pension Funding|Tags: |

By Austin R. Ramsey Source: Bloomberg Law Now that special financial assistance has been signed into law for union-brokered pensions, all eyes are on the year 2051—the date through which a federal stimulus package is intended to prop up the most underfunded of those plans. Actuarial assumptions federal agencies are poised to make now about who qualifies and how much money multiemployer plans will receive could determine whether those plans survive after that date. Without financial assistance, about 124 [...]

21 01, 2021

Multiemployer pension plans could soon see relief

2021-01-21T13:55:48-08:00January 21st, 2021|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: |

Legislation to help struggling multiemployer pension funds is to be introduced Thursday in the House and could be headed for passage if bundled with a COVID-19 relief measure now before Congress. The proposal also calls for some funding relief for single employer plans through extended amortization periods and pension interest rate smoothing changes. The proposed Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 is based on similar multiemployer pension reform legislation proposed in the last session of Congress as part [...]

16 12, 2020

Court Rules Pensions Can’t Exist in a State of Limbo

2020-12-16T09:03:15-08:00December 16th, 2020|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: |

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a “most unusual case” that a company that went bankrupt and dissolved in the 1990s was still liable for its pension’s obligations 20 years later. The case centers on Chicago area-based Liberty Lighting Co. Inc, a unionized electrical supply manufacturing company and plan sponsor and administrator of the Liberty Lighting Co. Inc. Pension Plan for IBEW Employees. According to court documents, Liberty entered bankruptcy and surrendered its assets to [...]

16 12, 2020

Multiemployer pension reform not happening this year

2020-12-16T09:01:26-08:00December 16th, 2020|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: |

Multiemployer pension reform will not happen this year, Senate Republicans involved in negotiations said. In a joint statement, Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said late Monday that time ran out for having it included in end-of-year legislation before the 116th Congress adjourns. "While each side has agreed to make significant changes, we have yet to find an agreement that satisfies our respective principles and objectives [...]

13 05, 2020

Union Pension Partitions Included in Democrat’s 4th Relief Proposal

2020-05-13T15:38:17-07:00May 13th, 2020|Categories: Economy|Tags: , , , |

The Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives has published a draft version of a fourth economic relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, dubbed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act or the “Heroes Act.” The wide-ranging legislation addresses a host of issues, from providing supplemental funding to the SNAP food security program to creating a special fund to support struggling fisheries. Notably, the entire Division D section of the legislation is dedicated to [...]

18 02, 2020

McClatchy files for Chapter 11 protection while PBGC talks continue

2020-02-18T14:26:36-08:00February 18th, 2020|Categories: Defined Benefit Plans|Tags: , , |

McClatchy Co. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday while it continues to seek support for a reorganization plan from key stakeholders, including the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. In its bankruptcy announcement, the company said the goal is to emerge from the process in the next few months after resolving legacy debt and pension obligations. "We are moving with speed and focus to benefit all our stakeholders and our communities," President and CEO Craig Forman said in the [...]

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