Janet Dhillon was sworn in as the 17th director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) on November 3, 2025.

Dhillon succeeds Gordon Hartogensis, who served as director from May 2019 to April 2024.

Dhillon previously served as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”).

From May 2019 to November 2022, Dhillon was a commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and served as its chair from May 2019 to January 2021.  

Outside of government, Dhillon served as the general counsel of several Fortune 500 companies, including US Airways Group, Inc., JC Penney Company, Inc., Burlington Stores, Inc. and Dollar Tree, Inc. She began her legal career at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Dhillon earned her Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Occidental College in Los Angeles.

PBGC administers two insurance programs designed to safeguard pension plan participants in distressed plans: (1) The Single-Employer Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. (2) The Multiemployer Program that insures private sector union pension plans is financed by insurance premiums and investment income. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.

The overall funded status of multi employer pension plans has improved substantially in recent years, primarily due to the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). 

The aggregate funded percentage for all multiemployer plans was an estimated 100% as of mid-2025, up from 97% at the end of 2024.

Without the SFA program, the aggregate funded percentage would be closer to 91%. As of June 30, 2025, 122 plans had received nearly $73 billion in SFA, which has prevented many from becoming insolvent.The financial outlook for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) multiemployer program, which was previously projected to run out of money, has stabilized, with a projected solvency date beyond 2063. 

While private sector pension fund is stabilizing, funding concerns remain about many public sector pension plans.

The “vast majority” of public plans are considered fragile (funded ratio of 60% to 90%) or distressed (funded ratio below 60%).

Unfunded liabilities for state and local plans have remained above $1 trillion since the 2008 Financial Crisis, standing at an estimated $1.2 trillion in 2025.

As of late 2025 data, states with the most distressed plans (lowest funded ratios) include Illinois, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Mississippi. 

About the Author

Cynthia Marcotte Stamer is a Martindale-Hubble AV-Preeminent (highest/top 1%) practicing attorney recognized as a “Top Woman Lawyer,” “Top Rated Lawyer,” and “LEGAL LEADER™” in Health Care Law and Labor and Employment Law; among the “Best Lawyers In Dallas” in “Labor & Employment,” “Tax: ERISA & Employee Benefits,” “Health Care” and “Business and Commercial Law recognized for her experience, scholarship, thought leadership and advocacy on HIPAA and other data and technology use, security and compliance in connection with her work with health care and life sciences, employee benefits, insurance, education, technology and other highly regulated and performance-dependent clients.

Board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Ms. Stamer is nationally recognized for her decades of leading edge experience on the design, sponsorship, administration and defense of health and other employee benefit, workforce, data and technology and other operations to promote legal and operational compliance, reduce regulatory and other liability and promote other operational goals.

Along with her decades of legal and strategic consulting experience, Ms. Stamer also contributes her leadership and experience to many professional, civic and community organizations. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the ABA Real Property Trusts and Estates (“RPTE”) Section Welfare Plan Committee, Co-Chair of the ABA International Section International Employment Law Committee and its Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee, Chair Emeritus and Vice Chair of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance (“TIPS”) Section Medicine and Law Committee, and Chair of the ABA Intellectual Property Section Law Practice Management Committee. She also has served as Scribe for the Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (“JCEB”) annual agency meetings with the Department of Health and Human Services and JCEB Council Representative, International Section Life Sciences Committee Chair, RPTE Section Employee Benefits Group Chair and a Substantive Groups Committee Member, Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group Chair, as TIPS Section Medicine and Law Committee Chair and Employee Benefits Committee and Workers Compensation Committee Vice Chair, Tax Section Fringe Benefit Committee Chair, and in various other ABA leadership capacities. Ms. Stamer also is a former Southwest Benefits Association Board Member and Continuing Education Chair, SHRM National Consultant Board Chair and Region IV Chair, Dallas Bar Association Employee Benefits Committee Chair, former Texas Association of Business State, Regional and Dallas Chapter Chair, a founding board member and Past President of the Alliance for Healthcare Excellence, as well as in the leadership of many other professional, civic and community organizations. She also is recognized for her contributions to strengthening health care policy and charitable and community service resolving health care challenges performed under PROJECT COPE Coalition For Patient Empowerment initiative and many other pro bono service involvements locally, nationally and internationally.

Ms. Stamer is the author of many highly regarded works published by leading professional and business publishers, the ABA, the American Health Lawyers Association, and others. Ms. Stamer also frequently speaks and serves on the faculty and steering committee for many ABA and other professional and industry conferences and conducts leadership and industry training for a wide range of organizations.

For more information about Ms. Stamer or her health industry and other experience and involvements, see http://www.cynthiastamer.com or contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 452-8297 or via e-mail here.

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