News and Analysis

Status of Applications to Reduce Benefits​

• Applications for Benefit Suspension​, Department of Treasury, ongoing
  

• Musicians union tries again with MPRA application, Pensions & Investments, 1/8/21
  
• Two More Pension Funds Apply to Treasury Department for Benefits Cuts [Arizona Bricklayers & Michigan Carpenters], Chief Investment Officer, 11/9/20
  
• Ohio Teamsters Pension Fund Seeks Benefits Reduction, Chief Investment Officer, 9/15/20
  
• Treasury Rejects Benefit Cut Requests from Musicians, Teamsters Pensions, Chief Investment Officer, 8/13/20
  
• Teamsters Local 807 MPRA application expected to be denied, Pensions & Investments, 8/11/20
  
• Actuarial Firms, Treasury Clash Over Union Pension Cuts, Plansponsor, 8/11/20
  
• Ohio Bricklayers local seeks benefits cuts, partition, Pensions & Investments, 6/26/20
  
• Treasury OKs Benefits Cuts for Ohio, NY Union Pensions, Chief Investment Officer, 5/22/20
  
• NYC Teamsters Pension Reapplies for Benefits Cuts, Chief Investment Officer, 2/21/20
  

Congressional committees continue the work of the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans (Expired in 2018). Congressional action from 2019-2020 has expired.

Legislative News

• Multiemployer pension plans could soon see relief, Pensions & Investments, 1/21/21
  
• Outlook for Multiemployer Pension Plan Reform in 2021, Morgan Lewis, 1/13/21
  
• Senate talks expanding retirement coverage, Pensions & Investments, 12/9/20
  
• Union Pension Funding Crisis Solution Remains Elusive, Plansponsor, 12/4/20
  
• House passes reworked HEROES Act, Pensions & Investments, 10/2/20
  
• Considering the Potential Future Volatility for Multiemployer Plans, Plansponsor, 8/17/20
  
• Multiemployer Relief in HEROES Act, Milliman, 5/22/20
  
• Multiemployer Pension Legislation, Milliman, 5/8/20
  
• House relief package addresses multiemployer plans, Pensions & Investments, 5/12/20
  
• Sanders, Van Hollen Introduce Bill to Cut Executive Tax Break to Shore Up Pensions, Chief Investment Officer, 3/3/20
  
• NY reps ask for action in Congress on multi-employer pension crisis, Auburn Citizen, 2/15/20
  
• Spending bill aims to rescue some workers’ pensions, but not everyone makes the cut, CNBC, 12/19/19
  
• Senate reintroduces multiemployer pension reform bill [Butch Lewis Act], Pensions & Investments, 7/24/19 
  
• House of Representatives votes to shore up failing multi-employer pensions [Butch Lewis Act], Cleveland.com, 7/24/19
  
• Legislation giving participants more say in MPRA benefit cuts reintroduced in Senate [Pension Accountability Act], Pensions & Investments, 3/15/19
  
• Hearing Recap: Multiemployer Pension Plans Need Financial Help or a New Investment Model, Plansponsor, 3/8/19
  
• Missing Deadline, Joint Committee Continues Work on Multiemployer Pension Crisis, Plansponsor, 11/30/18
  
• New Committee Hears What Led to Multiemployer Plan Crisis, Plan Adviser, 4/19/18
  

• Proposed Multiemployer Pension Recapitalization and Reform Plan, Word on Benefits blog, 11/26/19
  
• Navigating a Benefit Suspension Application Under MPRA, Benefits Magazine, May 2019
  
• Multiemployer Pension Solvency Discussions: What’s Next?, Word on Benefits blog, 11/29/18
  
• Confronting and Surviving Insolvency: A Guide for Multiemployer Pension Plans, Benefits Magazine, October 2017
  
• A Balancing Act: Deciding Whether to Pursue Benefit Reductions Under MPRA​, Benefits Magazine, April 2016 ​​
  
• MPRA Aims to Strengthen PBGC, Benefits Magazine, February 2016​​
  
• Can a Merger Save Your Pension Plan?​, Benefits Magazine, October 2015
  
• PPA Paradoxes Eliminated: MPRA Offers Technical Corrections...and More​, Benefits Magazine, August 2015 
  
• MPRA Guidance-What Does It Mean?​, Word on Benefits blog, 7/13/15 
  
• Finding Goldilocks: The Retiree Representative Under MPRA, Benefits Magazine, June 2015 
  
• Multiemployer Pension Plan Reform: How Will the New Rules Impact Employers and Employees?, Benefits Magazine, April 2015
• Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, Benefits Magazine, February 2015             
• What the Cromnibus Law Means for Multiemployer Pension Plans, International Foundation Word on Benefits blog, 12/15/14
  

Analysis & Whitepapers

• Selection of Actuarial Assumptions for Multiemployer Plans, American Academy of Actuaries, July 2020
  
• Determining Withdrawal Liability for Multiemployer Pension Plans: A Range of Approaches to Actuarial Assumptions, American Academy of Actuaries, April 2020
  
• Multiemployer Pension Plan Reform Policy Issues: Active Multiemployer Plan Participants Face Higher Contributions and Lower Benefit Levels as Funding Challenges Mount and are Left Unaddressed by Congress, Horizon Actuarial Services, MCAA and United Association, June 2019
  
• Pensionomics 2018: Measuring the Economic Impact of Multiemployer DB Pension Expenditures, National Institute on Retirement Security, January 2019
  
• The Multiemployer Pension Plan Crisis: Observations, Segal Consulting, 7/10/18
  
• Data on Multiemployer Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans, Congressional Research Service, 5/1/18 
  
• Multiemployer Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans: A Primer and Analysis of Policy Options, Congressional Research Service, 3/29/18
  
• U.S. Chamber, National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans Release Principles for Multiemployer Pension Reform, NCCMP, 3/14/18
• The Multiemployer Pension Plan Crisis: The History, Legislation, and What's Next?, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, December 2017
• Multiemployer Pension Plans: Current Status and Future Trends, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, November 2017
  
• Multiemployer Plans: Their Current Circumstances in Historical Context, DOL EBSA & Impaq International, September 2017
  

• Overview of Multiemployer Pension System Issues​, American Academy of Actuaries Issue Brief, June 2017​

• Honoring the PBGC Guarantee for Multiemployer Plans Requires Difficult Choices​, American Academy of Actuaries, 10/20/16 
  

• Solutions Not Bailouts, Retirement Security Review Commission, National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP), February 2013