The House Committee on Education and Labor approved a bipartisan retirement security bill Wednesday in a voice vote.
The Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement Act, or RISE Act, includes several ideas that have been introduced as stand-alone bills and as parts of larger retirement security bills, including the creation of a national online lost-and-found database for retirement accounts at the Department of Labor and enabling 403(b) plans to participate in multiple employer plans 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.