Sen. Tim Scott Leads Effort for SECURE Act

Oct 23, 2019

Fall is in the air in our nation’s capital, and the winds of change behind a bipartisan landmark retirement bill continue to gust up.

Last week, a group of seven U.S. senators, led by Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The letter urged the Senate to immediately take up the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act.

Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina all co-signed the letter. Most of these senators face reelection in 2020.

Americans are looking for Congress to get things done. The SECURE Act offers tremendous benefits to small businesses and their employees. It would expand retirement access for millions of workers by allowing small businesses to band together to provide retirement plans. This would ease the legal and administrative burdens of offering these plans by allowing small businesses to pool their resources.

The American Council of Life Insurers estimates that this would lead to at least 700,000 new retirement savers nationwide. This includes:

12,100 in Arizona
11,300 in Colorado
6,700 in Iowa
8,200 in Kentucky
22,600 in North Carolina
2,600 in Maine
23,200 in Ohio
10,700 in South Carolina

Beyond that, the SECURE Act would:

Prevent as many as 4 million people in private-sector pension plans from losing future benefits.
Allow part-time and older workers and retirees to contribute more to their IRAs.
Protect defined contribution plans at 1,400 religiously affiliated organizations.
Fix inadvertent increases in the taxes Gold Star families pay on survivor benefits.

With so many benefits to Americans, it’s no wonder there’s so much momentum behind the SECURE Act.

Sen. Scott continues to lead for families. In this case helping so many start to save, along with safeguarding others’ retirement security.

This fall is the perfect time for the Senate to act and deliver with this commonsense, important bipartisan legislation — securing millions of Americans’ financial futures.

Retirement Security

SECURE Act

Susan K. Neely

Susan K. Neely was President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), the nation’s leading trade association determined to help families live better lives by achieving financial security and certainty. As president and CEO, Neely drove public policy and advocacy on behalf of ACLI’s member companies that represent 93 percent of industry assets and serve 90 million families. She is CEO Emeritus through December, 2024.