Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 201 9
This bill modifies requirements for tax-favored retirement savings accounts, employer-provided retirement plans, and retirement benefits for federal judges.
With respect to employer-provided plans, the bill modifies requirements regarding
multiple employer plans,
automatic enrollment and nonelective contributions,
loans,
terminating or transferring plans,
reporting and disclosure rules,
nondiscrimination rules,
selecting lifetime income providers, and
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums.
The bill also increases the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs and allows a tax credit for small employers that establish retirement plans that include automatic enrollment.
With respect to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), the bill
treats taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation,
repeals the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, and
permits any IRA to be a shareholder of any S corporation that is a bank.
The bill makes several modifications to retirement benefits for magistrate judges of the U.S. Tax Court and other federal judges.
The bill also modifies various tax provisions to
reinstate and increase the tax exclusion for benefits provided to volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders,
revise the required distribution rules for pension plans,
increase penalties for failing to file tax or retirement plan returns, and
require the Internal Revenue Service to share returns and return information with U.S. Customs Border Protection to administer the heavy vehicle use tax.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 6, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 6, 2019: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
RON KIND (D-WI) introduced it on February 6, 2019, and 49 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 31 Democrats, 18 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 6, 2019, 2773 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2773 days ago, on February 6, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers