{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=319257D5-8E0F-482D-97AA-848A102B59F4", "New Portman-Cardin Retirement Security Legislation Receives Widespread Praise", "2018-12-19", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  New retirement security legislation introduced today by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD)  the Retirement Security & Savings Act  received widespread praise from key stakeholders that support bipartisan reforms to help Americans save more for retirement and increase access to 401(k)s and other retirement plans. Here's what key stakeholders are saying about the new Portman-Cardin retirement security legislation:\r\nSenators Portman and Cardin are leaders in providing bipartisan solutions to retirement savings, said Dave Gray, Head of Retirement Products and Solutions for Fidelity Investments. This bill features common sense and needed enhancements that can go a long way towards helping Americans achieve their retirement savings goals.\r\nThe U.S. Chamber looks forward to working with Senators Portman and Cardin on this bipartisan bill that builds on the strengths of our current employer-provided retirement system, said Aliya Robinson, Executive Director of Retirement Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By expanding incentives for small employers to offer retirement plans, updating outdated rules, and simplifying burdensome administrative requirements, this legislation provides a significant opportunity to improve retirement security for American workers, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.\r\nFor many years, retirement policy legislation has enjoyed a tradition of bipartisanship, and Senators Portman and Cardin have been leaders in this regard, said Lynn Dudley, Senior Vice President, Global Retirement and Compensation Policy, American Benefits Council.The American Benefits Council has been privileged to work with the Senators on their many retirement policy achievements over more than 20 years. This new legislation follows their practice of thoughtful, balanced and practical measures to enhance retirement security. The bill would serve plan sponsors and participants alike, by (1)expanding coverage, (2) facilitating greater savings, including through enhancement of automatic enrollment, and (3) reducing plan costs,including simplifying the mechanics of correcting inadvertent errors. We thank the Senators for the opportunity to have identified aspects of retirement law that merit reform and improvement. We strongly support this bill and look forward to working with its authors as the bill moves through the legislative process.\r\nWe applaud provisions in the bill that will improve the retirement security of today's workers, said David Certner, Legislative Counsel and Policy Director, AARP.In particular, we support the bill's extension of retirement plan coverage to part-time workers, which will significantly improve retirement savings options for millions of uncovered workers. In addition, we support the bill's expansion of the existing SAVERS' tax credit and making it refundable, which will help millions of low and modest income savers, and increase retirement savings for those least able to save.\r\nTIAA applauds the continued bipartisan leadership of Senators Portman and Cardin and we thank them for their unwavering dedication to helping ensure a secure retirement for millions of Americans. We especially appreciate the emphasis their legislation puts on the importance of lifetime income, a vital piece to solving today's retirement security challenges, said Lori Dickerson Fouch, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO of Retail, TIAA.\r\nSenators Portman and Cardin have introduced a bipartisan bill that will significantly improve retirement security for all Americans, said Ron O'Hanley, State Street Corporation President and COO. This bill will expand coverage, create incentives for small businesses, and remove barriers to securing guaranteed lifetime income. We have long-argued reforms such as these are necessary in order to dramatically reduce the number of people who are at risk of outliving their savings in retirement.\r\nThe Church Alliance has appreciated the ongoing support Senators Cardin and Portman have demonstrated for the retirement security of those who serve faith communities, said Church Alliance Chair and CEO of Wespath Benefits and Investments Barbara Boigegrain. We are pleased to see two provisions included in the Retirement Security & Savings Act of 2018 that would set retirement plans on even footing with individual retirements accounts. One would allow participants to direct charitable distributions from retirement plan accounts, and the other would bring fairer treatment of beneficiaries of inherited retirement plan accounts.\r\nWe are grateful to Senators Portman and Cardin as they once again take the lead in offering reforms to provide American workers with a more secure retirement. Their proposed legislation would expand coverage and encourage higher savings rates, promote lifetime income options and reduce administrative burdens. We look forward to working with them to achieve these important reforms, said Edmund F. Murphy III, President of Empower Retirement.\r\nWe want to thank Senators Portman and Cardin and their respective staffs for the tremendous efforts they put into the retirement legislation they plan to introduce this week. The bill has great potential to significantly improve retirement security for middle-class Americans, particularly by increasing their access to guaranteed lifetime income. From the perspective of our client the Committee of Annuity Insurers, the provisions of the bill that would remove barriers for life annuities under the required minimum distribution rules, enact important reforms for qualifying longevity annuity contracts, facilitate annuity portability, and clarify the substantially equal periodic payment rules for annuities are particularly important. These changes have been long sought by the Committee, and we truly appreciate your great work in bringing them one step closer, said the Committee of Annuity Insurers.\r\nThe bill introduced by Senators Portman and Cardin motivates employees to save for the future and incentivizes employers to start retirement plans. Together, this will help our country to save more. People want to save and have a secure retirement -- all they need is a nudge in that direction. And that is what the bill would do - nudge employees toward saving by enhancing automatic enrollment in plans. The bill also transforms the Saver's Credit from cash to a retirement plan contribution, helping those most in need to save more. It also addresses the gap in retirement plan coverage by providing assistance in the form of tax credits to small businesses that start a plan. This is a great bill that will do so much to enhance savings in our country, said LPL advisor Mark Van Drunen CFP, Hudson, Ohio.\r\nThe National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators enthusiastically endorses the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2018. The bipartisan leadership Senators Portman and Cardin continue to provide in retirement policy is once again demonstrated in this bill, which makes a number of important improvements to the defined contribution plans that state and local governments offer their employees. These provisions will help our employees save more of their own money for retirement and make the plans easier for state and local governments to administer. For example, the bill would eliminate the antiquated first day of the month rule for 457 defined contribution plans, enabling participants to change their payroll contributions at any time during the month. The bill allows 403(b) plans to use collective investment trusts and separate accounts, giving public school employees access to the same lower cost investment vehicles available to other state and local government employees, said Cindy Rehmeier, President of NAGDCA and Manager of Defined Contribution Plans, Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS).\r\n\"Based on my experience working with clients in Zanesville, Ohio for nearly 20 years, I believe that this bill is a great example of our elected officials doing the right thing by helping Americans save for a secure retirement. The bill would stop forcing retirement savers to take distributions at age 70 1/2, replacing that age with age 75. The bill will also help small business owners establish a retirement plan by giving them a bigger tax credit to cover their plan-related expenses. This is exactly what is needed to broaden retirement coverage. I appreciate Senator Portman's leadership on this legislation and look forward to passage of this bill, which would do so much good for retirement savers, said Scott Barr, an advisor for Edward Jones in Zanesville, Ohio.\r\nWe are pleased to express our enthusiastic support for the legislation introduced by Senators Portman and Cardin, said Paul Richman, Vice President Government Affairs of Insured Retirement Institute. The legislation they have proposed today demonstrates their continued leadership in putting forth common-sense, bipartisan policies to help Americans as they seek to achieve their retirement goals. The measures contained in the bill are a positive step forward towards expanding access to workplace retirement plans and increasing access to guaranteed lifetime income options, all of which will help Americans better prepare for their retirement years.\r\nToo often, families enter retirement unprepared. The Retirement Security & Savings Act of 2018 wisely addresses all phases of the retirement preparedness challenge, said Kirt Walker, President and COO of Nationwide Financial Services. I look forward to working with Sens. Portman and Cardin to help this thoughtful bipartisan proposal become law.\r\nRetirement plan coverage among small employers remains far too low, because of the cost of maintaining small plans. Help is needed from lawmakers. We believe that the bill introduced by Senators Portman and Cardin would deliver exactly the type of help that is needed by reducing plan costs for small employers and providing enhanced tax credits to help cover remaining costs. We applaud the leadership of Senators Portman and Cardin and look forward to helping them move this bill forward, said Jeanne de Cervens, Vice President & Director of Transamerica Federal Government Affairs.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=319257D5-8E0F-482D-97AA-848A102B59F4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9495341219007969, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}