Murray-Passed Legislation Saves Hundreds of Thousands of Pensions

PBGC announced relief to Central States Pension Fund under special financial assistance program Murray fought to establish in the American Rescue Plan

Central States’ pension plan covers over 350,000 workers and retirees across the country—including over 300 in Washington state

Announcement brings total number of pensions saved by program to over half a million

Murray: “Today, we averted a potential disaster for our economy, and saved hundreds of thousands of workers and retirees from a financial apocalypse.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), released the following statement in response to news the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) approved relief to the Central States Pension Fund through the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program, which Senator Murray fought to establish in the American Rescue Plan.

“Today, we averted a potential disaster for our economy, and saved hundreds of thousands of workers and retirees from a financial apocalypse. I fought so hard to get this done because I know this will mean that thousands of workers and retirees across the country—including hundreds in Washington state—can rest easy knowing the pensions they rely on are secure. That’s exactly why Senator Wyden, Senator Brown, Congressman Scott, and Congressman Neal worked so hard with me to get this done, as well.”

“Without this relief, people who had done nothing wrong might have seen the benefits they earned slashed and their lives upended—but Democrats refused to let that happen. We know that a pension is a promise, and, by passing the American Rescue Plan, we made good on that promise and saved hundreds of thousands of pensions. And according to PBGC’s own reports, the pension relief Democrats passed has also stabilized its funding through 2060—putting our entire multiemployer system on more solid financial footing.”  

Central States is one of the largest multiemployer pension plans in the nation, covering over 350,000 workers and retirees—many of whom would have had their pension benefits severely slashed if the plan had gone insolvent. The failure of the Central States Pension Fund would have accelerated the insolvency of PBGC’s own multiemployer insurance program, which was projected to become insolvent in 2026 prior to the pandemic. Senator Murray fought for the American Rescue Plan to provide relief for struggling pension plans across the country by creating the SFA program for multiemployer pensions.

According to the Multiemployer Pension Rescue Tracker launched by the House Education and Labor Committee, prior to today’s announcement, the SFA program had already saved over 190,000 pensions and protected an estimated 946 businesses—meaning as of today over half a million pensions have been saved by the program, and many more are expected to be saved through this program.

###