Compliance July 7, 2001

HOUSE CALL – Pension Bill Overwhelmingly Passes House

July 19, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The House overwhelmingly passed the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act (H.R. 1102) Wednesday, but the President said it doesn't do enough for low-income workers, and said he "strongly opposes" the measure.
Reported by

The vote was 401-25 in favor of the bill, with 182 Democrats crossing the aisle to join near unanimous support from Republicans. The bill now goes to the Senate, with supporters pushing for action in early September.

The bill would:

  • Gradually raise IRA contribution limits to $5,000 from $2,000
  • Lift annual 401(k) contribution limits to $15,000 from the current $10,500
  • Accelerate “catch up” limits for workers who leave the workplace temporarily
  • Enhance portability of benefits

A White House statement noted “A better approach is to enact pension and retirement savings incentives to reach tens of millions of working Americans who do not participate in employer-provided pension plans and have little or no retirement savings.”

A Democratic alternative modeled after government-subsidized retirement savings account proposals made by President Clinton was rejected 221-200.

See the bill online .

See a summary of retirement savings provisions included in the bill .

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