Resource Type: Legislation & Regulations
Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021
The bipartisan Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021 (S. 1730), reintroduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) on May 20, 2021, will make it possible for countless former employees to find their old employers and claim their retirement benefits. The legislation is aimed at solving a problem that affects many […]
State-based retirement plans for the private sector
States around the country are looking into ways of providing retirement savings opportunities for individuals who do not have access to an employer retirement plan. States with a retirement program under consideration or with a program adopted are in bold below. A brief description of the state program is included for each bolded state. […]
The Labor Department’s Notice-and-Access Disclosure Rule: The Basics
The Labor Department has issued a new rule for electronic delivery of plan disclosures to retirement plan participants, called “notice-and-access.”[1] The rule is effective July 27, 2020.[2] The new rule replaces prior guidance on electronic delivery of disclosures to participants, with the exception of a 2002 electronic disclosure rule.[3] The 2002 electronic disclosure rule remains […]
Summary of CARES Act provisions relating to retirement plans
Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, Public Law 116-136) in response to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Act includes several items designed to ease employees’ access to their retirement funds and certain provisions allowing employers to delay contributions to their pension plans. The Act was […]
Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020
On October 27, 2020 House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020 (H.R. 8696), a bipartisan bill with some important provisions for retirement plan participants. The following summary highlights parts of the bill that are likely to be of special interest to […]
Comments to the Labor Department on the Effectiveness of ERISA Disclosures.
The Pension Rights Center submitted comments to the Labor Department in response to a Request for Information on the Effectiveness of ERISA Disclosures. The Center suggested ways that required disclosures could be improved without eliminating crucial participant information. Read the comments here. Read the Request for Information in section D of the preamble to the […]
The Women’s Pension Protection Act of 2018
On September 12, 2018 Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Women’s Pension Protection Act of 2018 (WPPA), S.3436. A companion bill, H.R. 7026, was introduced in the House on October 2, 2018 by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), joined by Donald Norcross (D-NJ) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). The bill will improve retirement security for women by […]
PBGC Expanded Missing Participants Program
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a final rule on December 22, 2017 to expand its Missing Participants Program for terminated single-employer pension plans to additional types of plans. The expansion was authorized by Congress in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). The expanded program includes participants and beneficiaries in terminating defined contribution […]
Provisions in National Defense Authorization Act would cut retirement benefits for former military spouses
Federal laws allow state family court judges to award a fair share of an employee’s retirement benefit to a former spouse at divorce. The laws recognize that marriage is an economic partnership and therefore permit state courts to consider both the degree to which former spouses may have relied on their partners’ retirement benefits for […]
“Composite Bill” Legislative Summary
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions recently held a hearing on a “Discussion Draft to Modernize Multiemployer Pensions.” The draft is commonly referred to as “the composite bill” even though it has not yet been introduced into Congress as a stand-alone piece of legislation. However, the legislative language has […]
Comments to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Pension Advance Loans (October 13, 2016)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Request for Information on financial products that present consumer protection issues but are not included in the Bureau’s proposed rule on payday loans. The Pension Rights Center submitted comments on pension advances, a type of loan designed to skirt federal and state laws on disclosure and interest rates. […]
The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2018
The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act, sponsored by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT), was reintroduced on February 28, 2018 as S. 2474. The original version of the bill was introduced in 2016 (as S.3078) The new version of the bill adds language that would limit searches by ongoing pension plans for retirees […]
