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November 23, 2015

Mass. bill could bring retirement savings to 1.1M

Fast food, early education, health care and higher education workers plan Monday to urge lawmakers to pass a bill designed to open up retirement savings opportunities for those who don't have access to employer contributions or programs at their jobs.

The bill (H 924), sponsored by West Boylston Democrat Rep. James O'Day and 30 other lawmakers, is scheduled for a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Financial Services.

About 1.1 million private sector and salary workers in Massachusetts, or nearly one third of the workforce, lack retirement plan options through their employer, making it difficult to save through pensions, 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts, according to an official from SEIU Local 509.

The legislation establishes the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Board, which would oversee the Secure Multiple Employer Retirement Trust and the Secure Choice Individual Retirement Account Trust. The multiple trust plan would allow for employer and employee contributions and the individual trust plan would be limited to employee contributions only.

Under the bill, employers with 10 or more employees would be required to continue to offer their own employer-sponsored retirement plans or participate in the Secure Choice Multiple Employer Plan. Employers who failed to choose either option would need to automatically enroll employees in the Secure Choice Individual Retirement Account plan.

Secretary of State William Galvin is expected to testify on a related bill (H 939) filed by Rep. Angelo Scaccia and establishing a "secure choice savings retirement plan."

The committee is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. in hearing room A-2, with an agenda that also includes several bills dealing with automatic teller machines and investment advisers.

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