House Passes Secure 2.0 Act in $1.7T Spending Bill

News December 23, 2022 at 03:55 PM
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The full House passed by a 225-201 vote Friday afternoon the omnibus spending bill, which includes the sweeping retirement package: the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) 2.0 Act of 2022.

The bill now heads to President Joe Biden for his signature.

"Today, Congress fulfilled one of its most basic responsibilities: to fund our government and keep it working For the People," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a statement Friday after the vote. "From rising costs and inflation to the worsening effects of natural disasters and the climate crisis, this omnibus addresses many of the most pressing issues facing Americans."

The full Senate passed the $1.65 trillion spending bill late Thursday by a 68-29 vote.

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, said in a statement that Secure 2.0 "incorporates provisions that the House passed and our Committee approved."

These provisions, Scott explained, "make several sensible improvements to our nation's retirement system and will help more Americans prepare for and achieve the secure retirement they deserve."

The Financial Services Institute praised the passage of Secure 2.0. Dale Brown, FSI's president and CEO, said "this crucial retirement legislation" will ensure "that Main Street investors have access to the advice, products and services they need to save and plan for a dignified retirement."

FSI "continually engaged our contacts on Capitol Hill about the importance of this legislation, and during meetings with lawmakers this year, our financial advisor members repeatedly pushed for its passage," Brown said.

Fidelity Investments said it "applauds Congress for passing bipartisan legislation that will enhance America's retirement system," according to Kevin Barry, president of Workplace Investing, and Joanna Rotenberg, president of Personal Investing at the firm.

Secure 2.0 "will integrate several important benefits that are critical to financial security and expand access to underrepresented communities," Barry and Rotenberg said. "As one of the country's leading workplace benefits providers and America's No. 1 IRA provider, Fidelity is committed to supporting Americans as they save for and live in retirement and will be prepared to help customers take advantage of the opportunities that result from this new law."

Of particular importance, Fidelity added, is that the bill "allows employers to make matching retirement contributions based on the amount an employee is paying toward their student loans, which will help many workers begin saving for retirement," and also includes "needed reforms that gradually raise the RMD age to 75, expands pooled employer plans (PEPs), supports the adoption of emergency savings accounts, and promotes auto-portability."

With the passage of Secure 2.0, "millions more Americans now have a better chance at retirement success," according to John James, head of Vanguard's Institutional Investor Group. "This landmark legislation makes it easier for participants to save for their future by broadening Americans' access to the retirement savings system through expanded automatic enrollment and escalation, novel portability efforts that Vanguard helped pioneer, and greater transparency around target-date fund performance."

According to Eric Pan, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute, the key provisions of Secure 2.0 include "the promotion of automatic enrollment, which will lead to increased participation rates in 401(k) and 403(b) retirement savings plans. The bill will support people as they look to start saving earlier by allowing employees to receive matching contributions to their retirement accounts based on student loan payments."

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