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Legislation
Proponents contend that a financial transaction tax would curb volatility and limit speculative trading, but a new study contends that an FTT would fail to meet those objectives.
“The Ramifications of a Financial Transaction Tax” by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA...
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A group of seven Republican senators is urging the Senate Majority Leader to act on one of the most consequential pieces of retirement security legislation in more than a decade.
“We encourage the Senate to take action on the SECURE Act as soon as possible. Doing so would demonstrate to our...
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has put forward a comprehensive labor proposal that seeks to scale back the broad protections offered by ERISA preemption and resurrect the DOL’s fiduciary rule.
The presidential candidate released a 14-page proposal on Oct. 3, “Empowering American Workers and Raising...
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Legislation approved recently by the U.S. House of Representatives would restrict the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements – potentially including their use in workplace retirement plans.
Many retirement plans include provisions requiring employees and plan participants to arbitrate any...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) has raised concerns with the New York City Council about the application of ERISA in relation to a retirement savings program for private-sector employees under consideration.
In a Sept. 23 hearing before the NYCC’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor,...
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Under a new proposal put forward by an influential Democratic member of Congress, retirement assets could be factored into a new tax regime targeting higher-income taxpayers.
Labeling it as a proposal to help pay for a Social Security overhaul, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member on the...
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Congress returned to work this week with an extensive to-do list, but questions remain about whether the most consequential retirement policy legislation since the 2006 Pension Protection Act will make the cut.
Before adjourning, the House of Representatives approved the bipartisan Setting Every...
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A new analysis by Vanguard finds that a financial transaction tax (FTT) would hinder millions of American investors, including Main Street families saving for retirement.
The study reveals that the everyday impact of a 10-basis-point FTT would require an average investor to work nearly 2½ years...
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Just before departing for Congress’ summer recess, a member of the Senate Finance Committee reintroduced ambitious legislation to provide for automatic IRA arrangements.
Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Automatic IRA Act of 2019 (S. 2370) would require employers with...
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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has unleashed historic economic growth for millions of Americans. Now is the time for Congress to act to consolidate these economic gains by securing retirement benefits for current and future retirees.
According to a recent study from the Federal Reserve Board, only 36%...
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Multiple employer plans (MEPs) figure prominently in many discussions about workplace retirement plans today. And with those discussions including changes that would expand their availability and use, an Aug. 6 webinar provided a useful refresher on the federal rules governing MEPs.
In the...
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As Congress headed out of town for the August recess, retirement’s “Dynamic Duo” have teamed up on legislation designed to help stave off nondiscrimination testing issues for frozen defined benefit plans.
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), both members of the Senate Finance...
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Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to prohibit the use of premiums paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation from being used to pay for federal spending initiatives.
Introduced July 25 by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and cosponsored by Reps. George...
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Another presidential candidate has proposed to pay for a campaign promise with a tax on retirement savings.
U.S. senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D-CA) announced July 29 that she would propose a financial transactions tax to pay for her “Medicare-for-all” proposal –...
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The Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee in July 24 remarks argued that it is time to get the SECURE Act over the goal line.
“There are not many examples of the sort of bipartisanship [we saw] on the SECURE Act that you can look to,” Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) explained to delegates at...
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A bill to provide some relief for the struggling multiemployer pension system has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate – even as the House of Representatives passed comparable legislation.
Last night the House passed the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act (H.R. 397) in a 264-169 vote (...
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At the opening session of the 2019 NAPA D.C. Fly-in Forum on July 23, ASPPA Executive Director (and American Retirement Association CEO) Brian Graff noted that it’s a “hot mess” in Washington – both literally and figuratively.
Expressing his frustration that the bipartisan Setting Every Community...
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Legislation the House of Representatives passed on July 24 is intended to assist financially troubled multiemployer DB plans that meet specified criteria, but that help would come with a hefty price tag, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
In a two-page report updated July 19,...
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According to a new state-by-state analysis1 published by the American Retirement Association, more than 5 million employers in the United States still don’t offer a workplace retirement savings benefit, a generation after the 401(k) plan design was first introduced.
When a 401(k) is available, 78...
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The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has challenged a specific “pay for” provision in the SECURE Act. But they’re missing the big(ger) picture.
One of the main reasons the SECURE Act passed the House of Representatives by the large margin of 417-3 was that, as the WSJ acknowledges, it was “...
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