Senate Banking Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told Financial Advisor magazine Thursday that retirement reform legislation is unlikely to pass this year.

However, he said many people are thinking about the need for a fix because millions of Americans don't have enough funds to retire.

The senator’s comments came shortly after he told a Washington, D.C., forum of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association that the retirement crisis is on the minds of few policy makers and voters, and that fact is a barrier to improving the after-work well being of tens of millions.

Brown said two important contributors to the crisis are that half of employees do not have on-the-job retirement plans and that much of the average $168,000 in wealth the third-most prosperous quartile of Americans have is tied up in their homes, an investment that has declined in value over the last five years.

“An increasing number of people believe the economy is rigged against them,” he said.

He said President Obama’s myRA initiative would be an important aid for many workers to create a sustainable 21st century retirement plan. Billed as starter savings accounts, myRAs would allow workers who don't have an employer-based retirement plan to save up to $15,000 and at that point transfer the balance to a Roth IRA. Contributions can be as low as $5. MyRAs will be offered through an initial pilot program to employees of employers who choose to participate by the end of 2014.

The Senator is considered a top prospect to head the full Banking Committee next year if the Democrats retain control of the Senate in the November mid-term elections.