Committee Proposed to Study Peach State Saves Program

The Georgia Senate may create a committee to study the creation of Peach State Saves, a retirement saving program. 

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) on March 20 introduced in the state senate SR 807, a resolution that would create the Senate Peach State Saves Program Study Committee. 

In February, Hufstetler had introduced legislation calling for the creation of the Peach Save Plan, a defined contribution retirement plan in which multiple employers could participate regardless of whether any relationship exists between and among them other than their participation in the plan. However, the bill was withdrawn.

Why?

The rationale the resolution articulates states that 60% of households in Georgia do not have a retirement savings account and that half of Georgia households lack funds sufficient to maintain their quality of life after they retire. Further, it says, an estimated 2.1 million Georgia workers—employees, independent contractors, and self-employed—have no access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or program, nor any other easy way to save at work.

The resolution says that it should be the policy of the state to assist the private-sector workforce in Georgia—especially moderate- and lower-income working households—in voluntarily saving for retirement. This, it says, would entail facilitating saving in IRAs as well as encouraging employers to adopt retirement savings programs and other retirement plans for employees. 

The resolution argues that more adequate, portable, low-cost, and consumer-protective retirement saving by Georgia households will enhance their retirement security. Not only that, it says that providing them a means to save also would reduce the pressure on state public assistance programs for retirees and other elderly citizens—and in the process reduce the potential burden on Georgia taxpayers to finance those programs. 

The Committee

The resolution would create a committee that would study the conditions, needs, issues, and problems concerning Georgians’ financial readiness to retire. It also would be empowered to suggest action and legislation to address its findings. 

The committee would have seven members from the state Senate; the President of the Senate would appoint them and also would name its chair. 

The committee would have until Dec. 1, 2024 to issue a report and propose legislation. 

Status 

Hufstetler’s bill was referred to the Senate Rules Committee.