IRI SAYS PROPOSED SENATE RETIREMENT LEGISLATION IS “ANOTHER STEP FORWARD”

Association Praises Effort, Recommends Additional Provisions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Senate committee’s draft retirement legislation is another step forward toward helping America’s workers and retirees achieve a financially secure retirement, according to the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI).

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee released a bipartisan discussion draft of the Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement to Supplement Healthy Investments for the Nest Egg (RISE & SHINE) Act to increase access to retirement plans and bolster emergency savings.

IRI supports a number of provisions in the draft language that align with the association’s 2022 Federal Retirement Security Blueprint, such as expanding eligibility of pooled employer plans to non-profit organizations using 403(b) retirement plans and allowing employers to offer emergency savings programs to workers.

“The RISE & SHINE Act discussion draft provides bipartisan, common-sense solutions to reduce the challenges and obstacles that impede America’s workers and retirees from saving for both short-term and long-term financial security,” said Wayne Chopus, IRI President and CEO.

IRI offered the Committee several recommendations to incorporate into the discussion draft, such as the Lifetime Income for Employees Act, H.R. 6746. This measure would reduce barriers for employers to offer an annuity as a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) in a workplace retirement plan. This would provide a retirement plan participant with a protected lifetime income solution without needing to make underlying investment selections inside their workplace retirement plan.

IRI also urged the Committee to include the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act, S. 1730. This legislation would establish a national, digital database where retirement savers can locate former employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts to ensure they are not leaving retirement savings behind.

Lastly, IRI recommended the inclusion of the Financial Fitness Act, H.R. 5779, which would create a centralized portal at the Department of Education for federal financial aid recipients that provides information about planning and saving for their retirement as part of its financial literacy content. Adding a requirement that this portal includes counseling information about planning and saving for retirement will provide a helpful new tool to those who have received federal student aid.

“We appreciate the bipartisan leadership by Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ranking Member Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for their commitment to advance critical retirement legislation,” Chopus said. “We look forward to working with them and the Committee to finalize this legislative package in preparation for combining it into a broader retirement security bill that can be enacted into law this year.”

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Contact: Dan Zielinski