The bill passed the House 417-3, but McConnell has yet to put it to a vote in the Senate.
Republican senators are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act up for an immediate vote.
In a Tuesday letter to McConnell, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., pressed for immediate Senate consideration of the bipartisan bill, which was passed the House by a 417-3 vote on May 23.
Scott was joined by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Cory Gardner, R-Colo.; Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Martha McSally, R-Ariz.; and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
The Secure Act "will make significant strides in fixing the nation's retirement crisis and helping workers of all ages invest and save for their futures," the senators wrote.
The senators added in their letter that the bill "would expand access to retirement plans for millions of Americans, allow older workers and retirees to contribute more to their retirement accounts, increase 401(k) coverage to part-time employees, prevent as many as 4 million people in private-sector pension plans from losing future benefits, protect 1,400 religiously affiliated organizations whose access to their defined contribution retirement plans is in jeopardy."
The bill would make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans and would raise the required minimum distribution age to 72 from 70 1/2.
It also paves the way for more annuities in retirement plans and aims to raise revenue by changing the withdrawal rules on inherited IRAs by curtailing the "stretch IRA" strategy.
"We encourage the Senate to take action on the Secure Act as soon as possible," the senators wrote. "Doing so demonstrates to our constituents that the Senate can lead in a bipartisan way for workers saving for retirement, tax fairness, and family financial security."
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Melanie Waddell
Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.
