[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Casey, Mr. Durbin, Ms.
Klobuchar, Mr. Menendez, and Mrs. Murray):
S. 2452. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
matching payments for retirement savings contributions by certain
individuals, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I have introduced the Encouraging
Americans to Save Act (EASA). This legislation makes common sense
reforms to the saver's tax credit by making the credit refundable and
restructuring it as a government matching contribution that is directly
deposited into a taxpayer's retirement savings account. This bill would
offer matching contributions for the first time to millions of middle
and low income individuals not covered by an employer-sponsored
retirement plan, including those who save through an IRA under a state
or local government savings program--such as workers in my home State
of Oregon under the OregonSaves program. The government match is also
available to middle and lower income savers who participate in an
employer-sponsored plan. The government match provided by the bill
would both encourage saving and help middle and low income earners
build assets by providing an immediate, meaningful return on their
personal contributions. The legislation would also establish a
coronavirus bonus recovery credit that would provide an additional
government match of up to $5,000 to workers on their retirement saving
for a five year period. I urge my colleagues to support this
legislation.
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