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News & Views | Q3 2021 Page 2 of 4

WASHINGTON REPORT

Now that the pandemic is getting under control, businesses are reopening, and the American way of life is starting to return to
normal, Congress is showing increased energy on issues of importance to the retirement savings community. Secure 2.0 has been
reintroduced, as have many other bills. In addition to bipartisan support, the bills have many overlaps which is encouraging that we
will see passage of new legislation that will help further improve retirement plans.
Securing a Strong Retirement Act 2021 (aka, Secure 2.0), Reintroduced

Representatives Richard Neal (D-MA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Kevin Brady (R-TX), Ranking Member,
have reintroduced HR 29543, Securing a Strong Retirement 2021. The bill contains many of the same provisions as Secure 2.0 of
2020, such as:

• Elimination of the 1st month rule
• Increasing the age for Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) to age 75

• Increasing the catch-up limit to $10,000 for age 60 and over

• Allow a person whose total retirement assets are less than $100,000 to be exempt from RMD
• Safe harbor to correct administrative mistakes (e.g., those found in an audit) – currently the safe harbor is 180 days; this bill
increases the correction period to 9-1/2 months.
Some interesting new provisions have been added to the bill, including requiring auto-enrollment for 403(b) plans, and directing the
Department of Labor to update disclosure rules to allow better comparisons of investments to aid in participant decision making.
The bill was unanimously approved by the Ways & Means Committee and is will be forwarded to the full House for consideration,
hopefully before the August recess.
Retirement Security and Savings Act

The Senate has also been active in introducing new legislation benefiting retirement plans. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben
Cardin (D-MA) have long been friends of the retirement industry and are widely credited with the changes enacted over the last
20+ years. In late May, they introduced S.1770⁴, the Retirement Security and Savings Act (RSSA) of 2021. RSSA contains some of
the same provisions as HR 2954 – increasing catch-up to $10,000 at age 60, increasing the age for Required Minimum Distributions
(RMD) to age 75, and not imposing the RMD on participants whose total retirement assets are less than $100,000 – but adds new
proposed provisions:
• Creation of a national online database of accounts, to find lost retirement accounts

• Allowing matching contributions based on Student Loan payments (more on that below)
• Reducing the penalty for under withdrawal of RMDs. Currently, the penalty is 50% of the shortfall of the RMD; this proposal calls
for the penalty to be reduced to 25% in most cases or as low as 10% if the participant self-corrects.

It is expected that the Senate will take the best provisions from Secure 2.0 and the Portman-Cardin bill when they address retirement
legislation. Senator Cardin’s press release describing the provisions of S.1770 can be found here⁵.

Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act
Senator Ron Wyden (R-OR), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced S.1443⁶, Retirement Parity for Student Loans
Act. This bill is specifically directed at the burden of student loan debt and would allow employers offering matching contributions
to a retirement savings plan to “match” their contribution against the employee’s student loan payments. This proposal is designed
to aid recent grads who can’t afford to save for retirement due to the burden of their student loan debt, to not have to forego their
employer match benefits.

A media brief describing the provisions of S.1443 can be found here⁷.

NFP will continue to monitor these and other proposals affecting retirement savings plans and will keep you informed of how your
plans may be affected. Please contact your NFP advisor if you have questions.