WASHINGTON – Senators Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D- Minn.) introduced the Multiemployer Plan Relief Act, a bipartisan bill that provides targeted relief from the automatic enrollment mandate for multiemployer union retirement plans. Representatives Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Brad Finstad (D-Minn.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), and John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced a companion bill in the House.
“Hardworking Ohioans deserve retirement plans that work for them,” said Senator Moreno. “This bill removes unnecessary red tape from automatic enrollment rules, allowing Americans’ rightfully earned benefit plans to continue serving them without added compliance burdens from frequent job changes.”
“Workers in construction, trucking, and manufacturing rely on multiemployer union retirement plans to build financial security and prepare for their futures. While automatic enrollment can be a helpful tool to boost retirement savings, it doesn’t work the same way in multiemployer settings, where frequent job changes and uncoordinated payroll systems pose serious logistical challenges,” said Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan legislation provides relief for workers and businesses with multiemployer union retirement plans, so that we’re not imposing one-size-fits-all mandates where they don’t fit.”
Background:
- Multiemployer unions provide retirement plans to workers in industries such as construction and trucking, where individuals may have multiple employers rather than consistently working for one company. When workers are automatically enrolled for new plans, as currently mandated, they may be enrolled multiple times as they change employers.
- The Multiemployer Plan Relief Act would provide a targeted exemption from the SECURE 2.0 Act’s automatic enrollment requirement for multiemployer union retirement plans, recognizing their unique, collectively bargained structure. Such an exemption is currently provided for governmental and church plans.