[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 21 (Monday, February 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 322. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to promote 
retirement savings on behalf of small business employees by making 
improvements to SIMPLE retirement accounts and easing the transition 
from a SIMPLE plan to a 401(k) plan, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, building on this comprehensive effort to 
strengthen retirement security, I am also introducing a second bill 
today with my friend and colleague from Virginia, Senator Mark Warner.
  It would provide greater flexibility and access to both employees and 
their employers seeking to use the popular SIMPLE plans for saving for 
retirement.
  Established in 1996, SIMPLE plans can help small businesses provide 
their employees with a retirement plan that is less costly and easier 
to navigate than the 401(k) plan, which many small employers simply 
cannot afford.
  Our bill, the SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act, would help expand access 
to SIMPLE plans by increasing the contribution limit for most small 
companies. This would achieve two important goals. First, it would 
encourage more small employers to offer a retirement savings benefit to 
their employees. Second, it would allow employees of small businesses 
to save even more for retirement each year on a tax-deferred basis.
  This legislation is also a win-win proposition for retirement 
security. It encourages small business employers and their employees to 
take additional steps to save for retirement. For many small employers, 
this legislation would provide enhanced saving opportunities. At the 
same time, it is carefully constructed to prevent employers that 
already have a 401(k) plan from dropping that plan to adopt a SIMPLE 
plan. In other words, we want to broaden the number of employers who 
are able to offer retirement plans to their employees. It also 
preserves strong incentives for small businesses that become more 
successful to move from a SIMPLE plan to a 401(k) plan as they become 
bigger, more profitable, and more secure.
  In light of the positive effects these bills would have in 
strengthening retirement security for millions of Americans, I urge my 
colleagues to join in supporting the Retirement Security Act of 2019 
and the SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act.
  This is a crisis that is looming on the horizon. It used to be that 
we could count on the three pillars that made up the retirement system, 
Social Security, a pension from an employer, and also personal savings. 
All three of those pillars are shaky right now. The two bills I have 
introduced today attempt to strengthen two out of three of the legs of 
this three-legged stool. We need to do that to ensure that Americans 
can enjoy a financially secure retirement and not end up retiring in 
poverty.

                          ____________________