PBGC released their rules on July 9, 2021 on how the Special Financial Assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for multiemployer plans will be calculated, applied for, and managed. The ambiguity in the original law passed in March has been much discussed since then namely, how the amount of assistance could be determined as only the amount that would keep a Fund alive until 2052. Unfortunately, this is the methodology that PBGC decided upon. Trustees will have a very serious decision to make about whether this is the right decision for their Fund and membership.
In this Legislative Update, we discuss the primary provisions for multiemployer plans.