WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) sent a letter to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) expressing concerns over the agency’s handling of the taxpayer-funded bailout of multiemployer pension plans following the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) issuance of a negative risk advisory.
In the letter, Reps. Foxx and Good write:“We write to express our serious concerns with the [PBGC's] implementation of the special financial assistance (SFA) program for multiemployer pension plans following the [OIG’s] September 8, 2022, risk advisory. We are deeply troubled by PBGC’s response to the advisory, which failed to address the OIG’s warnings and recommendations. It appears PBGC is ignoring the serious nature of the risk advisory by continuing to approve supplemented SFA applications without a contingency plan if the agency is found to be making improper payments.”
Reps. Foxx and Good continue:“Since the OIG issued the risk advisory, PBGC has been accepting and approving supplemented SFA applications from plans that already received SFA under the interim final rule. PBGC’s apathetic statement in response to the risk advisory reiterated the commitment of the agency and its Board agencies (Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Commerce) to implementing the SFA program under the final rule. This is unacceptable. The statement ignores the OIG’s concerns and suggested actions.”
Reps. Foxx and Good conclude:“Forcing American taxpayers to send billions of additional dollars in potentially improper SFA payments is a very serious issue that PBGC should not take lightly and which we do not take lightly. PBGC’s response is inadequate, and the American public deserves a thorough explanation. It is imperative that Congress and the American public be informed of PBGC’s plans to address the OIG’s concerns about possible improper payments.”
