Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Auto Reenroll Act of 2022, alongside Representative Kathy Manning, who has introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. Enacting this bill would improve financial security for Americans by strengthening their private retirement savings.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans working in the private sector have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, but a quarter of those with access do not participate in those plans. This means less money saved for retirement. Often, it means leaving money on the table, in the form of employer-matching contributions. Encouraging more employees to participate in their workplace plans would increase their overall compensation and improve their financial security and retirement outlook.

The Auto Reenroll Act of 2022 would boost participation through a simple change to the automatic enrollment safe harbor. Automatic enrollment plans have been tremendously successful at encouraging workers to participate in employer-sponsored plans, but employees who opt out of participating at the beginning of their tenure will likely never reconsider that decision. This bill would build on the success of auto enrollment by having employers reenroll nonparticipants once every 3 years, providing them another opportunity to consider participation. This would encourage those employees to reassess their nonparticipation as their financial situation evolves.

I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation to bolster private retirement savings. ______

By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. Murkowski):

S. 3713. A bill to codify the essential holdings of Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (505 U.S. 833 (1992)); to the Committee on the Judiciary.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source