Senate HELP Committee advances SECURE 2.0 companion bill

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday advanced a retirement security bill that will likely serve as a piece of the Senate's SECURE 2.0 package.

The committee approved the Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement to Supplement Healthy Investments for the Nest Egg Act, or RISE & SHINE Act, via unanimous voice vote at a markup hearing.

The bipartisan bill introduced June 7 by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., committee chairwoman, and Richard Burr-R-N.C., the committee's ranking member, features a slew of provisions included in previously introduced bills. The provisions include allowing 403(b) plans to participate in multiple employer plans; reducing the requirement for part-time workers to participate in an employer's retirement savings plan to two years of service from three years; permitting employers to offer workplace emergency savings accounts linked to defined contribution plans; requiring pension plan sponsors to provide participants and retirees with key information when offering lump-sum buyouts; and allowing employers every three years to automatically re-enroll workers who previously opted out of a retirement plan.

The package builds off provisions in the House-passed Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, known as SECURE 2.0, as well as the Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement Act, or RISE Act, which was introduced in the House in November, and the Retirement Security & Savings Act, reintroduced in May 2021 by Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

The House passed its SECURE 2.0 bill in March in 414-5 vote. The bipartisan package expands on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, known as the SECURE Act, which Congress passed and was signed into law in late 2019.

Several committee members introduced amendments to the RISE & SHINE Act at Tuesday's markup, including Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who proposed directing the Department of Labor to study the impact of inflation on retirement savings. The amendment passed unanimously via voice vote.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., offered an amendment codifying a Trump-era Labor Department rule that stipulated that ERISA plan fiduciaries cannot invest in "non-pecuniary" vehicles that sacrifice investment returns or take on additional risk. The amendment did not earn majority support and did not advance, as the committee's 11 Republicans supported it while all 11 Democrats opposed it.

The Labor Department in October unveiled a proposed rule that would explicitly permit retirement plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights. The proposed rule is in stark contrast to the Trump-era rule and has earned support from many institutions.

The RISE & SHINE Act can now be considered in the full Senate, but the Senate Finance Committee is also expected to introduce its own retirement security bill. The two committee bills will likely form the basis of the Senate's SECURE 2.0 package.