I have to give Nationwide credit this week for prodding lawmakers to move on a bill that could encourage small businesses to offer retirement plans.

The financial services firm revealed 75 percent of small business owners agree financial preparedness in this country has reached crisis levels. Yet only one in five of roughly 30 million small businesses offer a 401(k) or other employee-funded retirement plan, and only 11 percent say they're likely to add one within the next two years. That's because 69 percent believe their business is too small and more than half say it's too expensive.

The survey populated headlines and brought attention to a legislative proposal that's been sidelined in committee wasteland since spring. The bill, the Small Businesses Add Value for Employees Act of 2011, would help small employers, Nationwide says, because it would encourage small businesses to pool together to offer Multiple Small Employer Plans that are much less expensive than single employer plans and simplify an employer's administrative requirements.