The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) allows certain multiemployer plans that are projected to become insolvent to reduce benefits indefinitely. Ordinarily, when a multiemployer plan goes insolvent, it receives annual financial assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to support payment of retiree benefits at maximum guaranteed levels. However, the PBGC program itself is in dire straits, recently projecting its own multiemployer program insolvency by 2025. At that point, the PBGC is essentially predicting it will not have enough money to provide the support needed to maintain retiree benefit levels. This means that retiree benefits in an insolvent plan could potentially be reduced below the PBGC-guaranteed levels because there wouldn t be enough combined money available from the plan and the PBGC to support those levels.

The Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (Central States) reported that its own projected insolvency will occur in 2026 in its application to the U.S. Treasury Department in 2015 to implement MPRA suspensions. The plan has close to 400,000 total participants, roughly half of whom are retired. The MPRA cuts, some of which are as high as 70%, are actually designed to produce higher benefit amounts than would be paid if the plan actually went insolvent, although MPRA cuts would be effective July 1, 2016, instead of upon actual insolvency.

The Treasury is scheduled to approve or deny the Central States application by May 7, 2016. During the review, the Treasury has heard from participants and advocate groups that cuts were not designed in an equitable manner; steps were not properly taken by the plan to avoid the current situation; future projections are not based on reasonable assumptions; and, in general, the law is unjust and unfair to the participants involved. Ultimately, it would take Congressional action to address that last concern. In the present, the Treasury will have to review and decide if Central States followed the terms of MPRA in designing its solution to avoid insolvency. If the Treasury approves the application, it will go to a vote. However, even if the participants vote no, it may not matter because the Treasury is likely obligated by MPRA to override the vote and implement some form of suspensions anyway because Central States is likely deemed to be a systemically important plan, one which requires $1 billion or more of PBGC assistance.

For now, all eyes are on May 7, waiting to see how the Treasury proceeds. Multiemployer plan sponsors and participants will no doubt pay close attention and stay tuned to any whispers of potential success in attempts by various parties in repealing or changing MPRA in any material way, despite those attempts looking unlikely today. In the meantime, the task for other sponsors in keeping their plans healthy and adequately funded is more essential than ever, and needs to be continually executed with careful attention.

For more perspective, read Tim's article "Central States Pension Plan and the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act."