401(k) Specialist Issue 1 - 2020 - 14

401(k) BEST PRACTICES
O
hio Senator Rob Portman had more reason
to celebrate than just about anyone
when the SECURE Act, the most significant
retirement reform legislation in 15 years,
became law as of Jan. 1, 2020.
" I've been trying to get this done; not just since
last May when we started working on it at the
Senate, but even before that, going back to 2016,
[when] we had a report down in committee, but
never got it to the floor, " Portman told 401(k)
Specialist in an exclusive interview in January.
Indeed, the Republican lawmaker was
not only an architect of the more substantive
provisions that ended up in the " Setting
Every Community Up for Retirement
Enhancement Act of 2019, " he was also perhaps
its most passionate advocate, providing
some compelling speeches on the Senate
floor as the bill spent more than six months
collecting dust on the desk of Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
This was after the bill, thanks to a push
from House Ways & Means Committee
Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) along with
Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Ways & Means
Committee Ranking Member Rep. Kevin
Brady (R-TX), and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA),
was approved back on May 23 by the House
of Representatives in a 417-3 vote.
Due to its overwhelming bipartisan support
in the House, there was plenty of optimism
that the Senate would fast-track the
SECURE Act's road to President Trump's
desk via unanimous consent.
At the time, Senator Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, predicted quick passage for the
most important federal retirement legislation
since the Pension Protection Act of
2006-including a variety of provisions
specifically designed to make it easier for
Americans to save for retirement through
the use of 401(k) plans.
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ISSUE 1 2020 | 401kSpecialist.com
But things don't often happen fast in Washington
D.C., and the SECURE Act stalled after
several Senators decided to place " holds " on the
bill due to a variety of concerns mostly non-related
to the retirement savings issue.
The holds, the most high-profile of which
being from Texas Senator Ted Cruz over House
Democrats' last-minute removal of a provision
that would have allowed 529 plan funds to be
used for homeschooling, were never resolved.
Numerous efforts by supporters to bring the
SECURE Act up for a vote in the Senate
seemed to fall on deaf ears, as McConnell reserved
" valuable floor time " for matters mainly
involving the appointment of federal judges.
That left just one last realistic hope, or the
bill would expire at the end of last year and
its reforms would have to start the legislative
road all over again-a particularly dicey
proposition in a presidential election year,
not to mention a divisive impeachment trial.
That last hope was getting the SECURE
Act attached to a broader " must-pass " federal
spending bill for fiscal year 2020-something
that happened when Congressional staffers
included it in the Further Consolidated Appropriations
Act 2020, a $1.4 trillion package
passed by the House and Senate before President
Trump signed it into law on Dec. 20.
With that, the SECURE Act became law,
bringing with it a number of consequential
changes designed to broaden access to 401(k)
plans for small businesses and their employees,
while also making it easier for plan sponsors to
include lifetime income options within them.
" Passing the SECURE Act is a big
victory that will help ensure that all
hard-working Americans have a chance to
build a nest egg for their retirement, " Portman
said in a statement as the bill finally
crossed the finish line.
SECURE Act a " Down Payment "
While obviously excited the SECURE Act
passed, he was quick to point out that he views
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401(k) Specialist Issue 1 - 2020

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