Biden To Announce American Rescue Plan Pension Relief For Union Workers And Retirees

President Joe Biden will today announce the final rule implementing the American Rescue Plan’s Special Financial Assistance program.

The President will address union workers and retirees at the Max S. Hayes High School in Cleveland, Ohio, at 3:15 PM ET announcing the final rule.

The American Rescue Plan provided critical assistance to working families and helped the country’s economic recovery, re-opening 99 percent of schools, helping to create more than 8 million jobs, and generating the fastest economic growth in 40 years.

The Special Financial Assistance Program is estimated to protect millions of workers in multiemployer pension plans who faced significant cuts to their benefits due to the pandemic.

Before the American Rescue Plan, workers and retirees participating in more than 200 multiemployer pension plans faced the prospect of not receiving the full benefits they earned and need to support them and their families in retirement.

These plans are insured by a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). PBGC provides partial protection of the benefits of approximately 10.9 million workers and retirees in around 1,400 private-sector multiemployer, union-connected plans. Prior to the America Rescue Plan, the PBGC’s multiemployer pension insurance program was projected to become insolvent in 2026.

Named for heroic Ohio union leader and pension advocate Butch Lewis, the Special Financial Assistance program will provide financial relief to struggling multiemployer pension plans and ensure that millions of families facing benefit cuts will receive their full benefits they earned.

Important policy changes from the Interim Final Rule to the Final Rule ensure that all plans that receive Special Financial Assistance are projected to be solvent and pay full benefits through at least 2051.

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