US. Federal government’s rescue plan for multiemployer pensions falls flat, critics say

Earlier this year, Congress threw a lifeline to troubled multiemployer pension plans. But the rescue effort is getting tangled in regulations that may ultimately sink many of the retirement plans, pension experts say. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures defined-benefit pension plans, issued rules early this month outlining a new multiemployer-plan financial-assistance program mandated by the American Rescue Plan passed in March. The law allows certain underfunded multiemployer plans to apply for taxpayer-funded financial assistance that carries no repayment...