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House Moves a Step Closer to Approving SECURE Act

Legislation

The House of Representatives is moving forward with its promise to approve the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act during the month of May.

On May 21, the House approved on a party-line vote the so-called “rule” for the SECURE Act (H.R. 1994) – a key procedural hurdle that sets the rules for the debate and allows the chamber to begin consideration of the legislation. The House Rules Committee had approved the rule on May 20. As a result, the House is expected to begin consideration of the SECURE Act (H.R. 1994) on May 23, prior to leaving for its Memorial Day recess.   

Leading up to the vote, an issue that caused some heartburn with Republican lawmakers was a “manager’s amendment” that made subsequent changes to H.R. 1994 after it had been approved unanimously by the House Ways & Means Committee. 

House Republicans opposed the removal of a provision that would have allowed Section 529 accounts to be used for home schooling costs and supplies for students in grades K-12. The manager’s amendment also fixes a glitch from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that inadvertently raised taxes levied on military survivor benefits and certain other payments received by children. In addition, the amendment modifies the fees for failure to file retirement plan returns under the bill.

Despite the changes to the Section 529 expansion and the vote on the “rule” being party-line, the legislation is still expected to pass in the House with bipartisan support. Once H.R. 1994 is approved, it will be sent to the Senate, where it will be referred to the Finance Committee – which is eager to take up similar legislation. At a May 14 hearing, the Committee’s Chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), expressed hope that the House would move quickly to approve its version of the legislation so that it can be reconciled and sent to the president. 

Grassley and the Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), on April 1 reintroduced the bipartisan Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA), which tracks closely with the House’s SECURE Act. 

The Ways and Means Committee report on the SECURE Act – which includes the legislative text and explanations of the various provisions – is online here (note that this does not incorporate the manager’s amendment).

NOTE: It’s not too late to tell your representatives in Congress of your support for the retirement enhancements in the SECURE Act. Check it out at https://araadvocacy.org/issues/secure-act/#/18.