Retirement Plan Simplification and Enhancement Act of 2013
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Military Personnel.
Retirement Plan Simplification and Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to repeal the 10% cap on the qualified percentage of an employee's compensation as the standard for an employer's contribution to an automatic cash or deferred contribution arrangement under the alternative method for meeting nondiscrimination requirements.
Prescribes criteria for an alternative method for qualified secure deferral arrangements (under a qualified profit-sharing or stock bonus plan, a rural cooperative plan, or a "pre-ERISA" money purchase plan established before enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [ERISA]) to meet the nondiscrimination requirement that the actual deferral percentage for eligible highly compensated employees for the plan year bears a relationship, meeting specified criteria, to the actual deferral percentage for all other eligible employees for the preceding plan year.
Allows an eligible employer a secure deferral arrangement credit against the income tax of 10% of all contributions under a secure deferral arrangement made during the plan year by or on behalf of employees other than highly compensated employees.
Revises the period of service requirements for a qualified cash or deferred arrangement to cover long-term part-time employees working at least 3 consecutive 12-month periods during each of which the employee has at least 500 hours of service.
Requires separate application of the rules for a top-heavy defined benefit plan (whose the present value of the accrued benefits [PVAB] for the highly-paid key employees exceeds 60% of the PVAB for all employees) to any defined contribution plan covering part-time employees who do not meet age and service requirements.
Revises the tax credit for an applicable percentage of up to $2,000 of an individual's qualified retirement savings contributions for the taxable year. Doubles the credit if the taxpayer consents that the Secretary pay it into a designated retirement account. Limits contributions to $500, with annual increases up to $1,500 (adjusted for inflation) after 2023.
Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to direct the Commissioner of Social Security to prepare: (1) a financial reference handbook for distribution to an individual applying for the first time for benefits under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI), and (2) a retirement readiness checklist for inclusion in an individual's annual Social Security account statement.
The summary continues for 31 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 22, 2013. 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 August 29, 2013: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
- 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 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?
RICHARD NEAL (D-MA) introduced it on May 22, 2013, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 May 22, 2013, 4906 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4807 days ago, on August 29, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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