FRONTLINES: LEGISLATION: PORTABILITY BILL GETS FRESH HEARING

Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Jim Jeffords, R-Vt., reintroduced the ProSave legislation, which would enable those working for small businesses to take their retirement savings from job to job.The plan would entail setting up a government-sponsored, privately administered pension clearinghouse. It would be modeled along the lines of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund and the federal Thrift Savings Plan adminis tered by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which would manage the investment options.The legislation, a refinement of last year's bill, would let employers and employees contribute $6,000 apiece annually.It would do m ore to expand pension coverage than the provision to expand individual retirement accounts included in the tax package being debated by lawmakers, Mr. Jeffords said."What this country needs more than the vertical expansion of IRAs is horizontal expansion of pension coverage," he said.Mr. Jeffords, chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, plans to hold hearings on the bill later this year. He predicts the legislation will receive support from many other lawmakers, and will be passed out of the full committee this year.