There's a 70% chance that Congress will pass a Secure Act 2.0 bill this year, according to Brad Campbell, a former head of the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and now a partner at Faegre Drinker in Washington.
Key champions of the bill will not be around much longer, making Secure Act 2.0 legislation a bipartisan priority. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., "won't be chairman of Ways and Means next year," Campbell said during a recent webcast, and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, ranking member on the committee, is retiring.
Also retiring is Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who jointly penned the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2021 with Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
"There's a real potential that Congress could do a retirement reform bill" this year, Campbell said on the webcast.
Jeff Bush of The Washington Update agrees that there's a 70% chance Secure Act 2.0 will pass this year.
"In September, I expect Congress will pass a continuing resolution (CR) regarding budget issues, kicking that issue into the lame duck period after the election," Bush said Friday in an email.
Secure Act 2.0 "could be attached to the 2023 budget or another CR vote in December," just as the first Secure Act was in 2019.
Changes being proposed in a Secure Act 2.0 bill include raising the required minimum distribution age to 75 and increasing catch-up provisions for those nearing retirement age, Bush notes.
"There is a discussion of indexing the $100,000 limit for Qualified Charitable Deductions, adding Roth provisions for Simple and SEPs, and others," he added.
Paul Richman, Chief Government and Political Affairs Officer at the Insured Retirement Institute, told ThinkAdvisor Thursday in an email that IRI "remains optimistic that Congress will reach consensus and pass Secure 2.0 before Congress adjourns for this session."
