Wyden, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Help Working Families Save for Retirement

WASHINGTON –Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. along with Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., today introduced legislation designed to help more working families and middle-class Americans save for retirement. Wyden’s bill, the Encouraging Americans to Save Act, enhances retirement savings incentives and restores a retirement savings program eliminated by the Trump administration known as myRA.

“Instead of supporting retirement programs and incentives to lift up workers, Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration continue to use the tax code as a way to benefit those who need it least” said Wyden. “It’s a double whammy that’s fueling the country’s retirement crisis. My legislation aims to level the playing field and create an opportunity to help working families save.”

According to the National Institute on Retirement Security, over 100 million Americans of working age do not own any retirement assets, whether in a 401(k) type plan or an IRA, and they do not have coverage through a pension plan. The Encouraging Americans to Save Act enhances retirement savings incentives by restructuring the existing, nonrefundable saver’s credit into a refundable, government matching contribution of up to $500 a year for middle-class workers who save through 401(k) type plans or IRAs. Wyden’s legislation would also enhance the saver’s credit by making the full 50 percent credit rate available to taxpayers making up to $32,500 a year and require that credit be directly contributed into the saver’s retirement plan or IRA.

This legislation also restores myRA, a program established in 2014 to create starter retirement savings accounts for people without access to a 401(k) at work. The Trump administration ended myRA last July.

A one-page summary of the bill and section-by-section can be found here. The legislative text can be found here.

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