Neal: Time to Get SECURE Act Over the Goal Line

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 the 7th annual NAPA D.C. Fly-in Forum. “The Ways & Means Committee – Democrats and Republicans – voted the legislation out unanimously and when it came to the floor of the House, every Democrat in the House and all but three Republicans voted for the legislation.  

“Given that momentum, there is no reason the Senate can’t take up the legislation,” Neal contended, further noting that he’s confident President Trump would sign it into law. 

Citing a need for the SECURE Act, Neal asserted that half of working Americans are not in a retirement plan, and with an average Social Security benefit of about $16,000 per year, that translates to nearly half of American families that only receive Social Security getting about $350 per week. “Making it easier for people to save should be part of our goal,” the chairman emphasized.

Neal further noted that he feels very strongly about mandated savings and advised that after the SECURE Act is enacted, he plans to move on to bigger opportunities. He appeared to be referring to his Automatic Retirement Plan Act (ARPA), which would require employers to maintain a 401(k) or 403(b) plan that covers all eligible employees, while exempting small employers, governments, churches and businesses not in existence for three years. Neal also has previously introduced legislation to require auto IRAs for those employers that do not offer a plan.

The Ways & Means chairman acknowledged that in the past, mandates in general have been a hard sell, but he believes the idea of mandated savings has been met well and there’s a large swath of support for it. Earlier this week, the American Retirement Association published research that for the first time, quantified on a state-by-state basis the numbers of employers who don’t currently offer a retirement plan at work, and the number of workers – full- and part-time – that could benefit from passage of the SECURE Act. 

Neal also called attention to the Butch Lewis Act under consideration by the House of Representatives to address funding problems facing multiemployer pension plans. He contended that if Congress doesn’t act to address the challenges, nearly 1.3 million people stand to lose benefits, and that inaction could also take down the PBGC. He observed that this issue is not limited to so-called “red states versus blue states” and believes that, as the legislation works its way through the process, it will pick up Republican support. 

“The interesting part about retirement savings is to remember that people postpone pay raises along the way for the purpose of their golden years... but that’s under threat everywhere if we don’t act. And the Butch Lewis Act and the SECURE Act can help ease that,” Neal concluded.