The Senate Finance Committee on June 22 “marked up” retirement legislation titled the “Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act” and approved it for passage.
A “markup” is a process where committee members offer amendments to a specific piece of legislation, i.e., mark up the bill. It is usually done for bills that are expected to pass the committee and move to a vote on the Senate floor.
The tax bill will be combined with retirement legislation that was approved by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee. A Senate floor vote on the combined legislation has not been announced but is expected to occur before August.
A summary of the EARN Act is here.
House Passed Bill:
The House has already approved retirement legislation, and it varies from what the Senate is expected to pass. Lawmakers in both chambers must agree on a single piece of legislation before Congress can pass it.
Getting a cohesive bill can go one of two ways: Lawmakers in both chambers can hash-out the differences between the bills, or the House accepts what the Senate approves. It is not clear which avenue lawmakers will choose.
End Game:
It is unclear when final passage of a finalized bill will occur. Some lawmakers participating in today’s markup said they hoped that passage would happen before year-end.
If passage does not occur this year, the legislation cannot be passed by Congress next year unless lawmakers reintroduce it. Come January, a new congressional session begins. A new session means that lawmakers must reintroduce legislation for it to be considered.
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