The government of Maine has enacted a measure that adjusts its state-run retirement savings program.
Gov. Janet Mills (D) on June 12 signed into law legislation that adjusts the Maine Retirement Savings Program, the plan that provides coverage to private-sector employees whose employers do not. This comes almost exactly two years after enactment of the Act To Promote Individual Retirement Savings through a Public-Private Partnership.
Key changes the new law makes include the following.
Phased Implementation
The Maine Retirement Savings Board may implement the program in stages, which may include a pilot program and phasing in the program based on the size of employers, or other factors.
Employers
Employer size. A covered employer with fewer than five employees may—but is not required to—offer the program to its covered employees.
Employer deadlines. A covered employer must offer the program to its covered employees no later than Dec. 31, 2024.
Employer penalties. If a covered employer fails to enroll a covered employee without reasonable cause, it will be subject to a penalty for each covered employee for each calendar year or portion of a calendar year during which the covered employee was not enrolled in the program or had not opted out of participation in the program. In addition, for each calendar year beginning after the date on which a penalty has been assessed with respect to a covered employee, a covered employer will be subject to a penalty for any portion of that calendar year during which the covered employee continues to be unenrolled without opting out of participation in the program.
The new law also adjusts the amount of any penalty imposed on a covered employer for failure to enroll a covered employee without reasonable cause based on certain dates and periods. These were to begin on April 1, 2024, under the initial law creating the program, but now begin on July 1, 2025.
Intergovernmental Collaboration and Cooperation
The Maine Retirement Savings Board may enter into an intergovernmental agreement or memorandum of understanding with the state of Maine and any agency or instrumentality of the state in order to further the successful implementation and operation of the program through:
- the provision, receipt or other sharing of data;
- technical assistance;
- enforcement;
- compliance;
- collection; and
- other services or assistance to the program.
