NAIFA’s May 20-21 Congressional Conference participants will fan out over Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers on key issues impacting NAIFA members and their clients. Several hundred participants from almost every state and Congressional District will also establish and grow the constituent-lawmaker relationships that are so key to favorable legislative outcomes.

On April 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its new fiduciary rule and its accompanying amendments to prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs) 2020-02 and 84-24. The new rules would take effect September 23, but they have already triggered the first of what are likely to be multiple court challenges to them. Those court decisions could impact the effective date. And Congress is likely to vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) motion to block the rules, although even if a CRA motion passes both the House and Senate, President Biden will surely veto it.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on February 28 to examine how to increase retirement financial security through defined benefit (DB) plans, defined contribution (DC) plans, and Social Security. There was considerable focus on whether the Social Security wage base disproportionately taxes income that makes up the base of Social Security benefits. For example, one witness noted that when Social Security started, the wage base for lower income workers captured 2 percent of income whereas now it now captures 12.4 percent.

Last month, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released its annual “tax expenditure report.” This is a list of many tax code rules that result in the government not collecting tax on what would otherwise be taxable income. Many of these rules directly benefit life and health insurance, retirement savings, employer-provided benefits, and general investments.

On December 20, the Treasury Department issued a “grab bag” of guidance on the new retirement savings rules and opportunities in the SECURE 2.0 retirement savings law enacted late in 2022. Notice 2024-02 covers a dozen of the law’s provisions, in a question-and-answer format.

On December 6, professional staff to Congress’ retirement savings committees released a draft of their proposed SECURE 2.0 technical corrections package. The committee staff are requesting input from stakeholders to be sure the proposed fixes work, and to provide one last opportunity to add any newly identified errors that need correcting.

On November 24, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued proposed regulations implementing the rules of the provision in the SECURE retirement laws that qualifies long-term (those who have worked two years or more for an employer), part-time (those who work at least 500 hours/year) employees to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.

Ideas for the emerging “SECURE 3.0” retirement savings bill—which is still early in the development phase—are beginning to proliferate. Here is a summary of some of the idea's lawmakers are considering for the next-generation retirement savings legislation.

On November 1, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released inflation-adjusted retirement and benefits plan contribution limits for 2024. Next year, 401(k) savers will be allowed to contribute $500 more than they can in 2023.

There is a slew of pending regulations on such issues as the fiduciary rule, retirement savings, and health insurance nearing release. Below is a summary of some of the ones that will have the most impact.

A Texas judge has ruled against a challenge to Biden Administration environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rules that allow fiduciaries to consider ESG factors in selecting retirement plan investment choices. House action to roll back the rules is pending.

In Notice 2023-62, the IRS and Treasury clarified that many catch-up contributions for 2024-2025 will not have to be Roth contributions for taxpayers earning $145,00/year or more.

On September 8, the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sent to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on new fiduciary duty rules applicable to advisors on retirement savings. Details of what the agency is proposing are as yet unknown, but speculation suggests its focus is on insurance-related advice, and on rollovers from retirement plans to individual IRAs.

A coalition of more than 150 retirement savings plan sponsors and their allies in the retirement savings community is asking both Congress and the Treasury Department for a delay in the 2024 effective date of the SECURE 2.0 rule that requires individuals earning more than $145,000/year to make their retirement plan catch-up contributions on a Roth basis.