Republicans Are Making a Huge New Push to Block Essential Retirement Security @alternet:
"If Republicans succeed in rolling back the DOL regulations, they will destroy the best chance 63 million American workers have to get access to a retirement plan. These states took the responsible first step to save their residents from a retirement crisis defined by low coverage and inadequate savings, and protect their taxpayers from the fiscal crisis that would result if millions of elderly Americans became indigent. The 63 million workers without access to employer-based plans include: 23 million people who will lose coverage in the seven states that have enacted plans, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, and about 40 million people who will lose coverage in the 28 states and two cities—New York and Philadelphia—considering similar universal retirement plans. The city and state plans, also known as Secure Choice Plans, are state-level retirement programs designed to provide retirement savings accounts to private-sector workers who do not have access to such plans at work. Under Secure Choice, designated private-sector employers are required to automatically deduct a percentage of their workers’ pay and forward it to state-sponsored individual retirement accounts (IRAs)—think of them as public option IRAs and 401(k)-type plans. Accounts are individually owned and professionally managed, and administered by independent boards headed by state-appointed trustees. Under these plans, employees would have the right to change their contribution rates or opt out of making contributions."
