6 Steps to SECURE 2.0
We’re on final approach to bringing the SECURE 2.0 retirement reform package in for a landing, tentatively scheduled for next Friday, Dec. 23.
All indications point to SECURE 2.0 making the cut to be included in the massive $1.7 trillion spending and policy bill, where this week a deal was struck among Congressional leaders on the framework to fund the government this fiscal year.
After passing a stopgap spending bill earlier this week to avoid a government shutdown, House and Senate Appropriations Committees are now working around the clock to negotiate the details of the final 2023 spending bills that—based on the framework agreement—are expected to make it to President Biden’s desk before the end of the year.
Here’s a quick look at the timeline of events for how we got here.
SECURE Act 2.0 Legislation Introduced—And Wow!
While talk of building on the reforms included in the 2019 SECURE Act started even before the SECURE Act became law, the road to SECURE 2.0 started in earnest with the October 2020 introduction of the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020 by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX).
The bipartisan legislation sought to expand auto-enrollment, provide incentives for small businesses to offer retirement plans, increase the RMD age to 75, and allow for bigger catch-up contributions.
While that bill never gained much traction in 2020, with its bipartisan support it nevertheless got the ball rolling toward SECURE 2.0.
SEE ALSO:
• SECURE Act 2.0 Legislation Introduced—And Wow!
Slight progress in 2021
Support continued for the House bill after it was reintroduced by Neal and Brady in 2021. It was passed by the Ways and Means Committee, but never got to the finish line and was subsequently reintroduced again in 2022.
• 401k-Friendly ‘SECURE 2.0’ Bill Advances in House
NEXT PAGE: SECURE 2.0 Cut from Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022
Close but no cigar in early 2022
In early March, it was a case of close but no cigar, apparently. An effort to get SECURE 2.0 included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022—the 2,741-page omnibus bill released March 8 containing approximately $1.5 trillion in remaining fiscal 2022 spending came up short.
While Congressional leaders spent much of that day negotiating potential add-ons to the omnibus spending bill, the House’s Securing a Strong Retirement Act, and companion Senate bill The Retirement Security and Savings Act, were not among the bills making the final cut.
SEE ALSO:
• SECURE 2.0 Doesn’t Make Cut for $1.5T Omnibus Bill
NEXT PAGE: House Passes SECURE 2.0
House passes SECURE 2.0
Back on March 29, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2954 ‘‘Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022,’’ also known as SECURE 2.0, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 414-5.
The bill’s provisions include ways to increase retirement savings through automatic enrollment, new incentives, and expanded coverage; ways to encourage more flexibility for Americans’ retirement options; and new safeguards to protect Americans’ retirement savings accounts.
SEE ALSO:
NEXT PAGE: RISE & SHINE Act, EARN Act Advance in Committee
RISE & SHINE Act, EARN Act advance
More progress on the retirement reform legislation front occurred on in mid-June when the Senate HELP Committee advanced the RISE & SHINE Act and the Senate Finance Committee advanced the Enhance Americans Retirement Now (EARN) Act on June 22.
The RISE & SHINE Act (S. 4353), introduced in early June by Senators Patty Murray, (D-WA), and Richard Burr, (R-NC), seeks to improve retirement security by creating additional protections for workers and retirement savers at all stages of their retirement timelines—from improving coverage for part-time workers to facilitating convenient and affordable access to workplace emergency savings accounts.
The EARN Act includes more than 70 proposals aimed at helping more Americans save for retirement, which Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said was the culmination of months of collaboration between just about every member of the committee, Democrat and Republican.
The EARN Act was combined with the RISE & SHINE Ac to form the Senate version of SECURE 2.0, which then needed to be reconciled with similar House-passed legislation before the final bill can be voted on by both chambers of Congress and sent to President Biden for signature.
SEE ALSO:
• Senate HELP Committee Advances RISE & SHINE Act
• SECURE 2.0 Momentum Surges with EARN Act’s Unanimous Committee Approval
NEXT PAGE: Final Push for Passage
Final push for passage
With the midterm elections over and Congress back in session, the retirement industry turned up the pressure for movement on SECURE 2.0 in mid-November.
Roughly 100 different associations and companies signed on to a pair of letters sent to Congressional leaders calling for action during the lame-duck session.
A consortium of 60 organizations and companies including a majority of retirement industry heavy-hitters sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), urging the leaders to “take quick action and pass a compilation of retirement provisions known as SECURE 2.0.”
Another letter sent Nov. 17 addressed specifically to the four Congressional leaders from the Bipartisan Policy Center specifically prioritized the emergency savings provisions of SECURE 2.0. It was signed by 40 companies and organizations including Aspen Institute, Commonwealth, Consumer Federation of America, National Institute on Retirement Security, SecureSave, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Vestwell, among others.
These letters came on the heels of an October op-ed for The Hill, where Sens. Portman and Cardin highlighted the urgent need for the Senate to pass bipartisan legislation to update the country’s retirement system to help Americans better save for retirement.
SEE ALSO:
• Industry to Congress: Pass SECURE 2.0 Already!
• Portman, Cardin: Get Retirement Reform Done Now