SIFMA Statement on Senate Passage of CRA Resolution on State Retirement Plans  

Washington, DC, May 3, 2017 –  SIFMA today issued the following statement  from Lisa Bleier, SIFMA managing director and associate general counsel on Senate passage of on H.J. Res. 66 to override the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulation relating to savings arrangements established by states for non-governmental employees.

“We commend the Senate for passing the resolution to permanently protect private-sector retirement savers from losing access to important retirement savings options and safeguards. The DOL’s regulation could leave workers saving for retirement without important protections including survivors benefits, spousal benefits, children’s benefits and inter-state portability.  Under this guidance, states could have created plans that restrict options and limit plan customizability while prohibiting an employer match, which is crucial to maximizing retirement savings.

“While we agree that more must be done to encourage Americans to save for retirement, exempting state plans from providing important protections for workers is not the solution.  This resolution ensures that retirement savers have the same high-level protections and options available to workers under private plans.  We urge the President to sign this resolution without delay.”

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SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $18.5 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.