Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, voted today in support of the Securing a Strong Retirement (SECURE 2.0) Act, a key piece of bipartisan legislation that will help employees save for retirement throughout their careers and protect American futures. The legislation includes two pieces of legislation authored by Congressman LaHood, the Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act and the Public Service Retirement Fairness Act.
The legislation passed the House with strong bipartisan support. During debate on the House floor, Congressman LaHood spoke in support of the legislation.
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"The bipartisan work done by the Ways and Means Committee with SECURE 2.0 will help Americans save for retirement at all stages of their career," said Rep. LaHood. "I am proud that key provisions I authored to help workers simultaneously pay off student loans and contribute to their retirement and ensure public servants are not limited in their retirement investment options were included in this package. I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee in a bipartisan manner to help Illinois residents and all Americans financially prepare for retirement."
The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 (SECURE 2.0)
- Helps employees save for retirement earlier. Employees would be automatically enrolled in their company’s 401(k) plan, while still providing a chance to opt out.
- Support for employees with student loan debt. The bill allows employer matching contributions to a retirement plan for employees that are making payments on student loans.
- Helps late career workers catch up in saving for retirement. Late-career workers – who may finally be earning the highest salaries of their careers after spending years at lower wages – can contribute a larger amount to “catch up” on their retirement savings, doubled from $5,000 a year to $10,000 a year.
The Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act
The Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act, introduced by Illinois Congressmen Darin LaHood and Danny Davis and included in SECURE 2.0, would permit 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE and governmental 457(b) retirement plans to make matching contributions to workers as if their student loan payments were salary reduction contributions. Thereby the will help reducing student loan debt and building retirement savings.This provision has been widely praised by experts across the political spectrum.
The Public Service Retirement Fairness Act
The Public Service Retirement Fairness Act, introduced by Representatives LaHood, Panetta, Estes, Boyle, Barr, and Dean, would level the playing field and create parity by ensuring public sector and non-profit retirement-savings programs have the same access to low-cost investments as private sector retirement plans.
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