A panel of experts Wednesday expressed support for a SECURE
Act 2.0 package and said expanding features like automatic enrollment and
scaling state-sponsored automatic IRA programs would help address the nation's
coverage gap.
Lawmakers from both parties also said they were motivated to
pass additional retirement security legislation Wednesday at a Senate Finance
Committee hearing titled, "Building on Bipartisan Retirement Legislation:
How Can Congress Help?"
Several bipartisan bills have been introduced this Congress,
ranging from major retirement security packages to ones with more specific
focuses, like allowing workers to make student loan payments while their
employers make matching contributions to their defined contribution accounts,
providing a penalty-free distribution option in the event of an emergency, and
expanding saver's credit.
"As the economy continues to bounce back, we have a
chance to build on the success of the SECURE Act in a bipartisan way,"
said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee.
In 2019, the bipartisan retirement package, the Setting
Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, known as the SECURE
Act, was signed into law.
The leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee — Chairman
Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Ranking Member Kevin Brady, R-Texas — reintroduced
the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 on May 4 and held a markup May 5
during which members on both sides of the aisle commended the bill and approved
it unanimously via voice vote. The next step is for the full House to consider
the bill, though a vote has yet to be scheduled.
The House bill is similar in scope to the Retirement
Security and Savings Act, introduced May 20 by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and
Ben Cardin, D-Md. Combined, the bills are likely to be the basis of a SECURE
Act 2.0 package.
Each of the four witnesses at Wednesday's hearing — Aliya
Robinson, senior vice president of retirement and compensation policy at the
ERISA Industry Committee, Brian H. Graff, CEO of the American Retirement
Association, David Certner, legislative counsel and policy director at the
AARP, and Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read — spoke highly of the
retirement-related bills before Congress.
In his prepared testimony, Mr. Graff said expanding coverage
with auto-enrollment is the key to addressing racial inequities in retirement
savings and he praised programs like OregonSaves, the first state-sponsored
private-sector retirement program in the country.
"The ARA applauds the work and success of these state
and local programs but believes a federal policy would better assure the
retirement plan coverage gap can be addressed consistently throughout the entire
country," Mr. Graff said.
Mr. Read said more than 110,000 Oregonians now have accounts
with OregonSaves and participants have collectively saved more than $123
million dollars for their retirement since it launched in 2017.
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