Legislation that seeks to increase employee access to retirement savings and would impact employer-provided retirement plans has been approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, an important step in advancing retirement legislation this year.
Prior to the Committee’s vote on the RISE & SHINE Act (S. 4353), the Association joined an employer letter supporting bipartisan efforts to finalize retirement legislation during this Congress. The committee approved the legislation, which builds off the House-passed SECURE Act 2.0, by a unanimous voice vote.
The RISE & SHINE Act does not include the following provisions that are included in SECURE 2.0:
- A mandatory auto-enrollment provision for business with more than 10 employees—instead it includes an automatic reenrollment provision for every three years;
- An increase in the catch-up contribution limit for those ages 62–64; and
- Treating student loan payments as elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions.
Outlook: Despite the committee vote, the RISE & SHINE Act still has a long legislative process ahead. The bill will now be considered by the full Senate, where it is expected to be merged with another retirement proposal that the Senate Finance Committee is developing. Once the Senate approves its retirement legislation, the House and Senate bills will be merged into a final bill, which is not expected to pass until later this year, likely in a lame-duck session after the November midterm elections.
