The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be urging Congress this year to end minimum payout requirements from 401(k)s and IRAs, chamber Retirement Policy Director Aliya Wong said Wednesday.
The effort, along with an effort to spur multiple employer retirement plans, is part of a legislative roadmap for retirement benefits the chamber will roll out February 3, she revealed.
The chamber is also urging the incoming Trump Administration to put the brakes on Department of Labor rules from last year aimed at blossoming the creation of state-based retirement plans for small businesses.
Wong said the roadmap will be based on a retirement policy white paper prepared for President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team.
In that document, the chamber praised the ability of multiple employer plans to provide small businesses with enhanced opportunities for affordable retirement planning for their workers and promote better retirement savings behavior by them.
In seeking an end to the required minimum distributions for 401(k)s and IRAs, the chamber has said the requirements have not kept pace with the labor market as people live longer, stay in the workplace longer and enjoy healthier lives.
The Department of Labor instituted a rule last year easing the way for state-based private employer plans, but the chamber opposes the retirement savings vehicles, contending the requirements, on top of ERISA rules, could burden small businesses.
While the group is mounting an effort for large-scale tax reform, the chamber will say in its 2017 legislative agenda it wants existing tax incentives for retirement savings to be maintained.
Eliminating or reducing tax breaks for employer-sponsored plans would jeopardize the retirement security of tens of millions of workers, the chamber will caution.
The chamber will also be urging Congress to reduce the number of notices and disclosures employee benefit plan fiduciaries are required to provide to plan participants.