EXPANSION OF WORKER RETIREMENT PLANS:

Voting 417 for and 3 against, the House on May 23 passed a bill (HR 1994) that would expand tax-favored retirement plans and benefits. The bill would remove limits on contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts; increase from 70 ½ to 72 the age at which individuals must start making annual withdrawals from their plans; require employers to include in companysponsored plans parttime employees with sufficient work histories; qualify homehealth care workers to participate in 401(k)-style plans; allow penalty-free early distributions to cover birth and adoption expenses; expand the use in retirement plans of annuities offering lifetime payments; make it easier for workers to take retirement accounts with them to new jobs, and allow penalty-free distributions from Section 529 college savings plans for apprenticeship programs and repaying student loans.

The bill also would provide tax credits to encourage employers to automatically enroll workers in company retirement savings plans, as opposed to the current system in which workers are given an opportunity to sign up. After being automatically enrolled, workers could opt out of the plan. The bill would make it easier for small businesses to establish and administer multiple-employer and pooled-employer retirement plans, and would reduce the premiums some charities and cooperatives pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

A yes vote was to send the

bill to the Senate.

ARKANSAS

Voting yes: Bruce Westerman, R-4

TEXAS

Voting yes: Louie Gohmert, R-1, John Ratcliffe, R-4