May 6, 2021
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Blog
The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday easily approved far-reaching legislation that modifies retirement accounts, but when Congress will take it up is unclear.
The bill, the “Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021,” passed yesterday with unanimous support from a committee that routinely is plagued by partisanship. The committee’s leaders, Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Texas), urged Congress to act quickly and pass the legislation so it can soon be enacted.
“We hope to see this measure move through Congress and be signed into law in short order,” they said in a joint statement.
But quick action on the bill has been thrown into question. House passage may not occur until later this summer as some lawmakers would like to amend the bill before it is subject to a floor vote. Also, the legislation is not a priority for the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over this bill in the upper chamber.
That lack of urgency could mean a Senate vote on the bill may not occur until the Fall. Also, if the chamber approves a modified version to what passed the House, the bill must return to the House for approval, which can be a time-consuming process.
Still, the legislation is expected to eventually pass Congress. It is a follow-up to the Secure Act, which passed Congress in 2019 with strong bipartisan support. In fact, the “Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021” has a nickname: Secure Act 2.0. Its provisions include:
The legislative text can be found here.
The Joint Committee on Taxation description of the bill can be found here.
The Joint Committee on Taxation cost estimate of the bill can be found here.
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