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Legislation
Single-employer defined benefit plan interest rate stabilization and funding relief included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) presents DB sponsors with a number of short-run decisions—some that must be made by March 31.
A recent article by OctoberThree highlights some of the issues...
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The ink on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), signed on March 11, is barely dry—but its effects are, and will be, far-reaching. Two recent blog entries zero in on some of the ways it will affect private-sector defined benefit plans, including funding relief.
Discount Rates
Pre-ARPA,...
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Demonstrating broad, bipartisan support for the program, the U.S. Senate approved a two-month extension of the Paycheck Protection Program March 25, clearing the measure for presidential signature.
The PPP was set to expire March 31, after previously being extended through the Consolidated...
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About those American Retirement Association-based credentials you’ve been putting off—bipartisan legislation was just introduced that would make it easier to pay for them.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), along with Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Rob Wittman (R-VA), introduced...
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Only one day after the House of Representatives gave final approval, President Biden on March 11 signed the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill into law.
The 600-plus page American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) contains numerous provisions affecting nearly every sector of the economy, including...
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After a brief volley between the two chambers and some late nights, the House of Representatives on March 10 gave final approval to the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, which includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act.
Approved by the House on a near party-line vote of 220-211,...
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Following a marathon session that literally went all night, on March 6 the Senate passed an amended version of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that removed the COLA freeze to plan limits, while retaining other pension provisions.
Moving one step closer to enactment, the American Rescue Plan...
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Two Republican members of the House of Representatives have reintroduced legislation that pushes back on state and local efforts to impose harmful financial transaction taxes (FTTs) that would impact non-residents.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the ranking Republican member of the House Financial...
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[UPDATED MARCH 5 AT 9:00 A.M. ET]
Following weeks of intensive lobbying, the American Retirement Association has gotten a provision pulled from the COVID relief bill that could have undermined retirement savings.
The nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) passed by the...
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Making good on a past promise, the newest member of the Senate Finance Committee has introduced legislation to impose a wealth tax on so-called “ultra-millionaires.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on March 1 introduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act to impose:
a 2% annual tax on the net worth of...
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Virginia appears to be poised to become the next state to offer a state-run retirement plan for employees whose employers do not offer one. Legislation that would create one in the Old Dominion is headed for the desk of Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who has indicated that he will sign it into law.
The...
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The House of Representatives in the early hours of the past weekend approved a nearly $2 trillion COVID-stimulus bill, including a freeze to retirement plan contribution limits.
The Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act was approved Feb. 27 as part of the mammoth American Rescue Plan Act...
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New survey results show that a strong majority of Americans have a favorable impression of defined contribution plans and disagree with potential changes affecting current tax features.
According to the Investment Company Institute’s updated study, “American Views on Defined Contribution Plan...
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The Oklahoma legislature is considering a measure that would make the Sooner State one of the next states to provide a state-run retirement plan for employees whose employers do not offer one.
The Oklahoma Prosperity Act was introduced in both chambers on Feb. 1. The House of Representatives...
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Five years after it was first introduced, the initiative to create a state-based retirement program for the private workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia has taken a major leap forward—with a key change pushed by the American Retirement Association.
On Feb. 16 the Virginia Senate Finance and...
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As part of the push to enact a nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill, the House Ways & Means Committee moved forward Feb. 11 with a proposal to freeze retirement plan contribution limits to help offset the cost of multiemployer plan relief.
On a party-line vote of 25-18, the committee approved the...
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Legislation before the House Ways & Means Committee plans to help pay for a multiemployer plan bailout by utilizing a budget “gimmick” that would freeze retirement plan contribution limits—though not for collectively bargained plans.
More specifically, the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan...
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The American Retirement Association, along with 30 other organizations, wrote to New York State leaders, criticizing a proposal to tax stock transfers as a misguided attempt to address the state’s budget deficit.
“While some see this as a tax on the securities industry itself, it is actually a...
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At the time of its passage, many in the retirement industry were concerned that the CARES Act would “open the floodgates” to a large percentage of workers cashing out years of retirement savings.
Fortunately, that did not happen, according to an analysis by Vanguard of its DC recordkeeping data...
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Framed as a tax on Wall Street, a new study contends that a financial transaction tax in reality would threaten the retirement savings of millions of Americans.
Legislation has been introduced at the federal and state level, including a new bill to implement an FTT in response to the market frenzy...
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