The House March 29 approved 414-5 the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954), a follow-on ‘2.0' version of the 2019 SECURE Act that includes an expansion of auto-enrollment and an increase in the 'catch-up' contribution limit for individuals age 62-64. The package also includes parts of the Education & Labor Committee-approved Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement Act of 2021 (RISE Act; H.R. 5891), including a provision to help people locate lost pension accounts when they change jobs.

The Ways & Means Committee had approved the base bill put forward by Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and ranking Republican member Kevin Brady (R-TX) by unanimous voice vote in May 2021, and Education & Labor approved its bill in November 2021. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) sponsor a similar bill (S. 1770) and the Finance Committee wants to contribute to an eventual package. The Senate HELP Committee held a retirement policy hearing today and leaders plan to release a bill soon.

Members of Ways & Means and Education & Labor of both parties spoke on the House floor in favor of the bill, and Rep. Brady encouraged the Senate to take it up.

Other provisions of the House-passed bill include:

• enriching the startup credit for small businesses; 
• boosting the Saver's Credit to provide a greater incentive to modest-income workers to save; 
• increasing the age at which individuals must take required minimum distributions from 72 to 75, phased in by the end of 2032;  
• requirement of one paper statement a year; and
• allowing employers to match their workers’ student loan repayments with retirement plan contributions.

The nearly $36 billion in revenue offsets for the bill include requiring ‘catch-up’ contributions to qualified plans to be made in Roth form; allowing employers to make matching contributions to Roth accounts; and allowing SIMPLE and SEP Roth IRAs.

The text of the bill and a Joint Committee on Taxation revenue estimate are available.

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