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Try, Try Again: Retirement Bills Reintroduced in Congress

Legislative phoenixes that would codify the president’s auto IRA proposal and change the qualified plan loan rules have arisen in both chambers of Congress.

Auto IRA
Legislation has been reintroduced in both the House and the Senate that would formally enact President Obama’s federal automatic IRA program.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) introduced the Automatic IRA Act of 2015 (H.R. 506) in the House of Representatives, while Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced companion legislation (S. 245) in the Senate. The default investments are specified in the legislation, which includes a new U.S. Treasury-issued retirement bond.

H.R. 506 is before two House committees: Education and the Workforce, and Ways and Means. S. 245 is before the Senate Finance Committee.

Qualified Plan Loan Rules

In the Senate, bipartisan legislation was introduced that would change the qualified plan loan rules.

Sens. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced the Shrinking Emergency Account Losses (SEAL) Act of 2015 (S. 324). The legislation:

  • Gives an individual an extended period to pay off qualified plan loans when that individual rolls over retirement assets into an IRA as a result of leaving the qualified plan either through severance of employment or a plan termination.

 

  • Would allow participants to continue to make elective contributions to a qualified plan during the six months following a hardship withdrawal.

 

  • Prohibits qualified plans from making loans through credit cards.     

S. 324 is before the Senate Finance Committee.