In this article we briefly review some of the retirement savings policy issues we covered in 2017 and provide links to previously published articles providing more detail. We begin with tax reform legislation and developments with respect to DOL’s fiduciary rule. Tax reform We recently posted an article on final tax reform legislation passed by…Read More
We have been following initiatives by several states, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and Oregon, to implement mandatory, private employer payroll deduction auto-IRA programs. In this article we review developments since May, 2017, Congressional action repealing the Obama Administration’s regulatory “path forward” for these programs. Background It is DOL’s view that an auto-IRA creates an…Read More
In this article we briefly review two recent developments in the initiative by certain states (and certain large cities) to require private sector employers that do not offer a retirement plan to provide an auto-IRA for their employees. Background A number of states are considering implementing programs that would require employers that do not offer…Read More
The New York City Comptroller has proposed a program (the “New York City Nest Egg”) that would default every New York City worker into either a qualified plan or an IRA. The proposal is interesting in a number of respects. It’s the first private sector retirement program proposed by a “political subdivision” of a state…Read More
In our recent Update on state plans, we noted that states considering mandated private employer auto-IRA programs generally have conditioned implementation of these programs on their being determined not to be ERISA retirement plans. In November 2015 the Department of Labor proposed a regulation providing a “path forward” for these programs, specifying conditions under which…Read More
States are continuing to develop initiatives to mandate employer-based retirement savings programs – generally a payroll deduction IRA with a default contribution/opt-out. As of this writing no state has actually implemented such a program, but some, e.g., California, Illinois and Oregon, are getting close, and two new states, Connecticut and Maryland, passed state plan legislation…Read More
At the July 2015 White House Conference on Aging, President Obama instructed the Department of Labor to propose guidance “clarifying how states can move forward” with state retirement plan initiatives. On November 16, 2015, DOL released (1) a proposed regulation addressing issues raised by state auto-IRA initiatives and (2) an Interpretive Bulletin (IB) setting forth…Read More
The Government Accountability Office has released a report – Retirement Security – Federal Action Could Help State Efforts to Expand Private Sector Coverage. The report reviews (1) estimates of workplace retirement savings program coverage, (2) strategies being pursued by some states to expand coverage and (3) possible legal obstacles under federal law (primarily ERISA) to…Read More
On January 4, 2015, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. Illinois thereby became the second state (after California) to enact legislation providing for a state-sanctioned retirement program for private sector employees. In December 2014, the Department of Labor provided the Department of the Treasury with a letter…Read More
Several states are considering adopting legislation that would require private (that is, non-governmental) employers that do not provide a retirement plan for their employees to adopt some sort of retirement program – typically, an ‘auto-IRA.’ These proposals generally do not cover employers who already have a plan. But, depending on how they deal with uncovered…Read More