Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
Here are this week’s top stories:
- Bevin should take House GOP’s good advice by Lexington Herald Leader editorial board: in Kentucky, more and more voices urge Gov. Bevin not to call a special session and wait until the regular legislative session begins on Jan. 2nd to consider any legislation affecting public pensions. This week, 51 Republican members of the Kentucky House added their voices to those calls.
- Legislature opts for less drastic approach for municipal retiree benefit changes by Kathleen Gray and Paul Egan: in a major win for public workers and retirees, the Michigan legislature this week abandoned extreme legislation that would have harshly cut pension and retiree health benefits for local government workers. Instead, both chambers of the legislature voted to adopt the unanimous recommendations of the governor’s task force that were issued earlier this year.
- Senate bill may make retirement plans less attractive for some employers by Paula Aven Gladych: both the U.S. House and Senate have passed separate tax reform bills. Now, the two chambers will meet in a conference committee to resolve the differences between the two proposals. Both chambers’ bills contain tax law changes that could threaten the retirement security of working people. This article from Employee Benefit Advisor details a provision in the Senate bill that could imperil retirement plans offered by certain small businesses. And don’t miss our blog post from last week regarding a provision in the House bill that would directly harm public pension funds.
- Rep. Richard Neal introduces two workplace retirement savings bills by Hazel Bradford: sticking with federal legislation, last week Congressman Richard Neal introduced two pieces of legislation that would increase access to workplace retirement savings plans for private sector employees. Rep. Neal stated: “The retirement crisis in America is real and will only worsen unless we make saving easier and do more to encourage workers to begin saving for retirement earlier.”
Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!
