On the recordMarch 5, 2021
today's legislation takes a very important step in providing financial assistance to multiemployer pension plans, particularly those plans that have already had to suspend benefits in order to save the plans from going insolvent. That has been a very painful step for some plans in New York because it resulted in retiree benefit cuts of as much as 60 percent. This legislation will allow those plans to restore painful cuts and ensure others on the brink do not have to take similar steps. I will be watching how the administration implements this new program very closely to ensure plans receiving financial assistance under the new program are not placed in a worse long-term funding position than they are today or are projected to be into the future. This new program is intended to be a long-term solution for these ailing plans, a solution that protects retiree benefits as well as the health of the plans themselves.
