House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richie Neal (D-MA) announced Jan. 30 that the committee will hold a hearing on Feb. 6 on improving retirement security for America’s workers.
It is anticipated that the hearing will be the first of many focusing on retirement security issues, eventually leading to action on legislation. Neal has stated that improving access to existing retirement plans and enhancing retirement savings opportunities will be a top priority of his in this session of Congress.
The Chairman has indicated that he intends to work on a bipartisan basis and will do his best “to find common ground,” but no doubt, his Retirement Plan Simplification and Enhancement Act (RPSEA), as well as his Automatic Retirement Plan Act (ARPA), will be starting points for discussion in the House.
Introduced in the last Congress, RPSEA includes numerous changes that seek to encourage small businesses to offer plans as well as simplify the existing rules for employer-sponsored plans, while ARPA would require employers above a certain size to have or establish a 401(k) or 403(b) plan that covers all eligible employees.
Next week is shaping up to be a busy one on Capitol Hill. President Trump also is expected to deliver his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, after having been forced to delay it in the midst of the government shutdown. While a release date has not yet been announced, the President’s budget proposal – in this case for fiscal year 2020 – is usually released the first week of February, shortly after the State of the Union. This will set the stage for the upcoming budget and spending debates.
The Ways and Means hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Longworth House Office Building. It will be live-streamed on the committee’s website.
