The SECURE 2.0 Act is probably not all that Edward Jones’s reps want for Christmas. But it was important enough that nearly 7,000 associates wrote over 26,000 letters asking lawmakers to pass the bill by year’s end.
Edward Jones, the St. Louis broker-dealer with a workforce of more than 50,000 reps and supervisors and $1.6 trillion in assets, has joined a chorus of industry voices lobbying for passage of the legislation now—with barely two weeks left in the congressional session.
SECURE 2.0 is the sequel to the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019," which would, among other things, increase the required minimum distribution age to 75. It would also increase the catch-up contributions that participants could make to their retirement plans and it make it easier and less expensive for small businesses to create these plans.
“As we sprint to the end of the year, we want to ferociously and loudly let lawmakers know that [the SECURE 2.0] legislation is absolutely critical to strengthen the retirement savings system and that we need them to take action,” said Lamell McMorris, an Edward Jones principal and the company’s head of policy, regulatory and government relations.
“We think there is bipartisan support, and while it is certainly in the hands of the Senate, we are very bullish on the fact that it’s going to get done,” he said.
McMorris credited the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA, a trade group that he said “played an important role and really helped in the mobilization” of Edward Jones advisors’ grassroots lobbying, including the 300 meetings that advisors had with congressional offices over the course of 48 hours during the firm’s annual Capitol Hill fly-in.
“Everything we’re hearing now is that lawmakers are working to find a vehicle to attach [legislation] to,” said an industry lobbyist who asked not to be identified.
That could mean adding SECURE 2.0 to an omnibus spending bill or even to legislation that extends expiring tax credits, he said.
“This changes hour by hour,” the lobbyist warned. “When it’s this close, anything at the end of the session can blow up. God forbid this doesn’t pass, but that would mean that other political issues unrelated to the bill came up. That’s the potential threat here. But we think Congress is in the frame of mind to get this done.”
Does the grassroots lobbying from advisors across America help? “There is a great interest by the industry to make sure that Congress hears the voices from back home and understands that it’s not just Washington-based groups asking for this. There are real benefits for working Americans and retirees back home, too,” said Dan Zielinski, a spokesman for the Insured Retirement Institute.