A bipartisan bill that would establish a national online lost-and-found database for retirement accounts and allow 403(b) plans to participate in multiple employer plans has been introduced in the House.
Leaders of the House Committee on Education and Labor — Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Va.; ranking member Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.; Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif.; and subcommittee ranking member Rick Allen, R-Ga. — introduced the Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement Act, or RISE Act, on Monday.
The bill includes several ideas that have been introduced as stand-alone bills, and as parts of larger retirement security bills that could make up a SECURE Act 2.0 package. Those ideas include creating a national online lost-and-found database for retirement accounts at the Department of Labor and enabling 403(b) plans to participate in MEPs and pooled employer plans.
The RISE Act would also reduce the service requirement for part-time workers to participate in an employers' retirement plan to two years from three, along with requiring the Labor Department, the Treasury Department and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to review reporting and disclosure requirements for pension plans and make recommendations to Congress to consolidate, simplify, standardize and improve such requirements. The bill would enable employers to offer minor financial incentives, such as low-dollar gift cards, to boost employee participation in workplace retirement plans.
"These policies are a step in the right direction toward a more secure retirement for workers and their families," Mr. Scott said in a news release.
"Improving saving opportunities for workers is an important bipartisan priority," added Ms. Foxx in the news release. "We all want to see Americans enter retirement more secure and more prepared. This bipartisan legislation will help empower both workers and employers to work in tandem towards a better and more secure future."
