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Legislation
The Obama administration’s final budget wasn’t a complete retread of its prior retirement plan proposals, but there wasn’t much good news for employer-sponsored retirement plans.Small business owners and small business retirement plans were once again targeted by a proposal that would limit the...
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Though specific policy details remain elusive on many key issues in the 2016 presidential campaign, the tax reform proposal of a leading candidate could undermine the 401(k).Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), after his surprisingly strong third place finish (just behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz) in the...
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Wrapping up a first week of February with action on legislation designed to block, slow or thwart the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule, the U.S. Senate finally got into the act with two pieces of legislation.Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and...
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For the second time in a week, an important committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that could undermine the Labor Department’s proposed fiduciary rule.The most recent step was a 26-12 vote by the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 3 to pass the Strengthening...
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As the Department of Labor (DOL) moves forward with its new fiduciary standard, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are working on legislation to address concerns that the final DOL proposal will harm access to retirement savings advice.The House Committee on Education and the Workforce...
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Not quite two years ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) should be opened to private sector workers. Now legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would take a step in that direction.The American Savings Act, introduced by Sen. Jeff...
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Small businesses in the Garden State will soon be able to use a virtual marketplace to choose a private retirement plan. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has signed into law a measure establishing that marketplace.The New Jersey Small Business Retirement Marketplace Act is intended to create a...
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Ex-presidents will share in the experience of pension caps if the U.S. House of Representatives has its way. The House passed a bill Jan. 11 that would place a limit on pension payments to former presidents, and the Senate now is considering it.Under the 1958 Former Presidents Act, former...
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The Nutmeg State has taken another step toward the creation of a state-run retirement program for private sector workers with the release of a lengthy report detailing the potential elements of such a program.In 2014, Connecticut enacted legislation creating the Connecticut Retirement Security...
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Just before Christmas, President Obama signed into law H.R. 2029, a massive year-end spending and tax bill containing a number of provisions affecting health and retirement plans. Here’s what you may have missed.H.R. 2029 — now Public Law 114-113 — includes both an omnibus appropriations bill that...
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers last week introduced legislation that they say will “ensure retirement advisors serve their clients’ best interests and preserve access to quality financial planning.” It would also require an affirmative vote of Congress before the final fiduciary rule from the...
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Those hoping that the Department of Labor's (DOL) fiduciary rule would be derailed in congressional budget negotiations found coal in their pre-Christmas stockings instead. Published reports had indicated that some lawmakers had tried to attach a rider to the omnibus spending bill that would...
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Those who have been concerned about the Labor Department’s recent extension of authority to state governments to run so-called “open” MEPs may now have an opportunity to compete more effectively with that alternative.In November, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued Interpretive Bulletin (IB) 2015-...
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The House on Dec. 11, and the Senate on Dec. 10, passed a short-term spending bill that will keep the government funded through Dec. 16. Whether budget legislation ultimately will include provisions affecting the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule remains uncertain.The Hill reports that the...
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Some may consider it a bundle of coal, and others a vision of sugarplums, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers now says that their legislative proposal to ensure retirement advisors protect clients’ best interests could be introduced before the holiday break.The members of the bipartisan working...
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The federal budget bill being negotiated on Capitol Hill this week could become the battleship that eventually sinks the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.Investment News reported Dec. 6 that, according to Rep. Phil Roe (R-Ill.), it is possible that a measure to deny funding for the enforcement...
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Congress has passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015, which is expected to be signed into law Dec. 4 by President Obama — and which, thanks to ASPPA GAC input, includes a vital change for Form 5500 filers.The bill sets policy and funding levels for transportation...
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A congressional subcommittee hearing Dec. 2 gave voice to the conflicting perspectives on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal, though it seems unlikely that anyone’s perspective was changed.The hearing, “Principles for Ensuring Retirement Advice Serves the Best Interests of Working...
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Legislation that would amend the rules for church plans in a variety of ways is now before both chambers of Congress. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) introduced the House version of The Church Plan Clarification Act of 2015, H.R. 4085, and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced the Senate version, S. 2308....
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The Obama Administration recently unveiled its myRA program, a federal effort to encourage retirement savings and provide an easy, low-impact way for those who do not participate in a retirement plan to set something aside. But it’s not the first time the administration has embarked on such an...
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