House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., hailed his Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) 2.0 Act of 2022 as "historic" during a call with reporters Wednesday afternoon.
"We're on the eve, I hope, of passing very important legislation in the retirement space — this again is a historic advance on what we were able to do just a few years ago in terms of [the original] Secure, and now we move on to Secure 2.0," Neal said.
Secure Act 2.0 retirement provisions are part of the $1.7 trillion 2023 omnibus appropriations bill that was released early Tuesday morning by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
"Just about all of our House provisions, if not all of them, have been kept," Neal said.
Both bills — the Secure Act of 2019 and Secure 2.0 Act of 2022— originated in the Ways and Means Committee, Neal noted.
"I think we're in pretty good shape on this," Neal continued. "Remember, the House passed it [Secure 2.0] in spring. We were anxiously awaiting Senate action, and that seems to have finally occurred."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday evening on the Senate floor that "we're still working on an agreement to vote on amendments and pass the omnibus tonight. We aren't there yet, we're making progress. But if we do not reach agreement, because of the urgency of getting this done I will file cloture this evening for a Friday cloture vote."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that pending Senate action on an amendment to the omnibus bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, the House may vote on the omnibus Thursday.