Pension Fund Notes

Treasury Department Opens Public Comment Period for AFM-EPF MPRA Application

January 22, 2021

House Democrats Introduce Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act.
On January 21, the U.S. Treasury Department posted the AFM-EPF's second application to prevent insolvency by reducing benefits through the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA).

AFM-EPF Submits Second MPRA Application to U.S. Treasury Department

January 7, 2021

On December 30, 2020, the AFM-EPF submitted a second application to the U.S. Treasury Department to reduce benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) in order to prevent the Plan from becoming insolvent. Now that the application has been submitted, we are providing important information directly to our participants about how each would be affected by the proposed benefit reductions if the application is approved by Treasury.

2020 Ends Without a Solution to the Multiemployer Pension Crisis

December 27, 2020

On Monday, December 21, Congress passed year-end legislation that included funding for the federal government and COVID-19 economic relief. Unfortunately, despite some last-minute negotiating between Republicans and Democrats, support for struggling multiemployer pension plans was not included in this legislation.

AFM-EPF Plans to Submit Second MPRA Application by End of the Year

December 10, 2020

Participants to receive benefit reduction estimates in January 2021; Benefit reductions would take effect in January 2022.

U.S. Treasury Department Denies the AFM-EPF's MPRA Application

August 11, 2020

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury officially notified the American Federation of Musicians and Employers' Pension Fund (AFM-EPF, the Plan) that it has denied our application, which we filed to protect our Plan's solvency by reducing benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA). Treasury's letter explained that its denial is based on a disagreement over the reasonableness of two of the actuarial assumptions used in our application.