Changes to current rules applicable to retirement plans made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019) are (in most cases) already effective. In this article we review, very briefly, the effective dates of some of the key provisions of SECURE and sponsor…Read More
In this article we review some of the significant retirement policy developments of 2019, including Congress’s consideration of broad bipartisan legislation (the SECURE Act), DOL’s electronic participant communications proposal, and the Supreme Court putting three ERISA retirement plan cases on its docket. Legislation Retirement policy-related legislative activity focused on passage of the Setting Every Community Up…Read More
In this current outlook we review IRS’s recent extension of closed group relief for another year and the “statement of interest” filed by DOJ in the California Secure Choice litigation, and we note DOL’s transmission of its electronic communication proposal to OMB. IRS extends relief for closed plans one year On August 26, 2019, IRS…Read More
In this article we review the chances of passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, how the recent budget deal may affect those chances, President Trump’s choice of Eugene Scalia as the new Secretary of Labor, and the possibility (e.g., if SECURE doesn’t pass) of regulatory action on some of the…Read More
In this legislative update we review House of Representatives passage, on May 23, 2019, of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 (H.R. 1994) by a 417-3 vote. We then briefly review other legislative developments, including the re-introduction of Portman-Cardin legislation, considered part of the next round of bipartisan retirement policy…Read More
It looks like many sponsors that are currently taking advantage of defined benefit plan minimum funding relief will, beginning in the next five years (or so), have to start paying down plan underfunding. In the interim, the primary incentive for plan funding is Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation variable-rate premiums. In this article we review, first,…Read More
As a result of November 6, 2018, mid-term elections, Democrats will control the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress. Whether the new Congress will produce retirement legislation on issues as to which there is bipartisan agreement will in all likelihood depend on the political climate. The change in control will, however, bring additional focus…Read More
Possible retirement savings legislation in lame duck session On September 27, 2018, the House passed the Family Savings Act (FSA) (part of House Republicans’ Tax Reform 2.0 proposal), after making two significant retirement policy related changes to the bill approved by the Ways and Means Committee. There are several other significant retirement savings policy initiatives in…Read More
On September 10, 2018, House Republicans released their “Tax Reform 2.0” proposal, a package of three bills: the Family Savings Act of 2018 (H.R. 6757); the Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 (H.R. 6760); and the American Innovation Act of 2018 (H.R. 6756). The Family Savings Act (FSA) contains a number…Read More
On August 24, 2018, IRS published Notice 2018-69, extending through 2019 temporary relief from Internal Revenue Code nondiscrimination rules for closed groups. We discuss the “closed group” issue, the temporary relief provided by IRS under prior Notices (extended under Notice 2018-69 through 2019), and IRS’s January 2016 proposed regulations providing permanent relief, in detail in…Read More