Three Troubling Provisions in the Senate EARN Act

Romina BocciaSeveral retirement savings bills are currently moving through the House and Senate. Among them is theEnhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act, which was introduced earlier in September by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D ‑OR) and Ranking Member Senator Mike Crapo (R‑ID). The bill offers a mixed bag of policies to amend the private retirement savings system. Among them are three troubling provisions. The bill would:Expand the welfare state by increasing eligibility for accounts that circumvent asset testsMake the saver ’s credit a refundable, matching contributionAllow employers to make 401(k) matching contributions based on student loan repaymentsThe Senate EARN Act is moving alongside related bills, including the (don ’t hold your breath) Senate Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement to Supplement Healthy Investments for the Nest Egg Act – aka the RISE and SHINE Act – and the House Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021.These bills are a  product of a deliberate lobbying process, gently shepherded along by a well ‐​organized group of financial service firms and antipoverty advocates. This combination of moral and financial advocacy makes this a  textbook‐​perfect case of theBootleggers ‐​and‐​Baptists‐​theory in action. No surprise then that there ’s chatter on Capitol Hill and in the news media that some combination of these bills has a high chance of passing Congress during this fall’s lam...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs