The top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee took issue with tax reform presented by the Trump Administration, warning against the targeting of retirement plans to pay for other cuts.
The Hill reports that Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said Democrats “are concerned that one of the goals of the Republicans’ tax plan is to use the cuts as a justification to scale back retirement programs like Social Security.”
The website notes that Neal, who was among the lawmakers who huddled with President Trump Tuesday to talk taxes at the White House, said Democrats will oppose any overhaul plan that points to tax cuts “as offering a substitute for retirement savings.”
“One of the priorities of tax reform has got to be retirement savings,” Neal told attendees at an event sponsored by the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington on Wednesday. “You can outlive an annuity, you can’t outlive Social Security.
“That check is coming.”
Neal said Democrats will fight to preserve what he called the “three-legged stool” of retirement security, combining the efforts of government (Social Security), employers (pension plans) and individuals (personal savings), according to The Hill.
“Neal also laid out three red lines governing the Democrats’ approach to tax reform. First, they will insist that any tax package be revenue neutral. Second, it must help the middle class. And third, it must not shower any benefits on the wealthiest taxpayers.”
The Financial Services Roundtable event also featured an industry perspective from Robert Reynolds, CEO of Great-West Financial and Putnam Investments who similarly “called on Congress to act in the best interest of American workers and to preserve and expand incentives inherent in the nation’s retirement savings system.”
“A cut to retirement savings incentives in order to ‘pay for’ unrelated cuts would be a serious policy mistake,” Reynolds argued. “Congress must not sacrifice the savings individuals will need for tomorrow to fund today’s budget. We should, in fact, strengthen and expand incentives for retirement savings as part of any national tax reform.”