Davis, Frerichs Support IL Retirement Savings Plans

Statement

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs (D-Ill.) released the following statements supporting Illinois retirement savings plans and the implementation of the Secure Choice Savings Program. Davis supported Illinois' program yesterday by voting against H.J. Res. 66, which uses the Congressional Review Act to repeal Department of Labor (DOL) rule that protects employers in states with these programs by removing their legal responsibility for facilitating enrollment into a payroll deduction.

"I want more people to save for retirement, not fewer. That is the responsible thing to do," said Davis. "The Secure Choice Savings Program, which will be run by the state, will help people who don't have an employment-based retirement benefit save for retirement. Repealing this Department of Labor rule will make it more difficult for Illinois to implement the Secure Choice program and eliminate protections for businesses whose employees participate in this program. With our state's pension problems and the state of our nation's entitlement programs, we need to be encouraging people to save for retirement on their own."

The Secure Choice Savings Program was signed into law two years ago and will be implemented by Frerichs on January 1, 2018.

"Repealing the Department of Labor rule will hurt small businesses," Frerichs said. "Allowing workers to save their own money while protecting employers from false accusations of inappropriate investing is exactly the commonsense that we need to encourage personal retirement savings."

Below are important facts about Secure Choice. More can be found here.

* Half of Illinois workers, or 1.3 million, do not have access to employee retirement savings benefits.
* Secure Choice does not allow an employer contribution but allows workers to save their own money for retirement.
* Secure Choice only applies to employers with at least 25 employees, that have been in business for at least two years, and who do not currently provide a qualified retirement savings plan.

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