Back to General Resources

House Ways & Means Committee Markup

House Committee on Ways & Means

Markup of Legislation

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Key Topics & Takeaways

  • H.R. 1994, the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019”: Neal’s bill and Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute would expand and preserve retirement savings and make administrative simplifications to the retirement system. Specifically, Neal highlighted that the bill includes provisions including to simplify the retirement plan filing process for small business, create a new tax credit for small businesses that add automatic enrollment to their 401(k) plans, and make reforms to open MEPs such that they do not have to be formed by employers with a common interest. The amended measure was favorably reported to the House by a voice vote.

Opening Statements

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Chairman, House Committee on Ways & Means

In his opening statement, Neal commended the bipartisan nature of the bills under consideration. Neal said H.R. 1994, the SECURE Act, was a “major” bipartisan effort, noting it was one of his top priorities to help Americans prepare for a financially secure retirement. Neal added that the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute would make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans, which could result in the opening of 17,000 new retirement accounts. Neal explained that many Americans face a retirement income crisis and many are in danger of not having enough savings to uphold their quality of life in retirement, and that the SECURE Act would make it easier for Americans to save. Neal noted the two other bills under consideration, H.R. 1759 and H.R. 1957, would improve reemployment services for workers and strengthen and modernize the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), respectively.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Ranking Member, House Committee on Ways & Means

In his opening statement, Brady also commended the bipartisanship involved in bringing these bills for consideration, adding that he was proud to support all three bills. Brady said H.R. 1957 would be the first structural reforms to the IRS in two decades and will transform the IRS to an agency whose singular purpose will be taxpayer service. Brady said H.R. 1994 will continue to improve retirement security and help families have flexibility and control over their savings. Brady called H.R. 1759 a “timely” update to the unemployment insurance program, and the committee needs to do all it can to ensure people are getting back into the workforce.

Markup

H.R. 1759, the “Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers (BRIDGE for Workers) Act

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) introduced her bill, which aims to provide workers receiving unemployment benefits the support they need to get back into the workforce as soon as possible by extending reemployment services and eligibility assessments to all claimants of unemployment benefits, rather than only those who are expected to run out of benefits. Rep. Neal offered an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, which outlines a number of findings about the demonstrated effectiveness of reemployment services and would modify the legislation to allow the expanded use of grants to provide return to work support. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Brady spoke in support of the legislation.

The amended measure was favorably reported to the House by a voice vote.

H.R. 1994, the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019”

Neal introduced his bill and his Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, which would expand and preserve retirement savings and make administrative simplifications to the retirement system. Specifically, Neal highlighted that the bill includes provisions including: H.R. 1688, to simplify the retirement plan filing process for small businesses; H.R. 1241, to provide tax benefits for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders, legislation to create a new tax credit for small businesses that add automatic enrollment to their 401(k) plans; H.R. 1874, to allow longtime part-time workers to participate in 401(k) plans; H.R. 1916, to provide pension funding relief to community newspapers; and H.R. 1932, to allow certain home healthcare workers to contribute to a defined contribution plan or an individual retirement account, and a fix to nondiscrimination rules for older workers. Neal noted that the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute makes reforms to open multi-employer plans (MEPs) such that they do not have to be formed by employers with a common interest.

Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) spoke in support of the bill, calling it long overdue. Kind highlighted that the bill will also include an open MEPs provision, noting that over 50 million Americans do not have access to a retirement plan, many of them working for small businesses.

Brady spoke in support of the bill but critiqued that it did not include provisions that passed in the previous Congress, including universal saving accounts and savings for newborns. Brady noted that the legislation raised the required minimum distribution (RMD) age from 70 ½ to 72, expands 529 plans, and allows individuals to access their retirement savings penalty-free upon the birth or adoption of a child.

Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Pascrell, Chu and Suozzi all spoke in support of the legislation. Reps. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) supported the legislation, but all raised concerns about the community newspaper pension provision.

The amended measure was favorably reported to the House by a voice vote.

H.R. 1957, the “Taxpayer First Act of 2019”

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) introduced his bill which would improve IRS customer service and dispute resolution, provide additional taxpayer protections, and provide flexibility for IRS redesign. Neal introduced his Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, consisting of clerical changes. Reps. Lewis, Kelly, Davis, Walorski, Chu, Wenstrup, and Suozzi spoke in support of the bill.

The amended measure was favorably reported to the House by a voice vote.

For more information on this hearing, please click here.