Advocacy in action blog

NAIFA joined with industry partners in a letter to House sponsors of the SECURE Remote Online Notarization Act urging support for the importance of the legislation. Bipartisan legislation (S. 5355, H.R. 6364) was introduced by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mark Warner (D-VA), and Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA). 

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux has thanked Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) for introducing the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2021. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 is working its way through the House and three Senators earlier this week introduced the Improving Access to Retirement Savings Act.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, has sent a letter to three members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), thanking them for introducing the Improving Access to Retirement Savings Act of 2021, which contains some provisions found in a bill that has passed the House and is commonly known as the SECURE Act 2.0.

NAIFA joined with coalition partners to submit a letter to U.S. Senate co-sponsors of the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act (SECURE Notarization Act), signaling support for the legislative initiative moving forward. The Act increases access to remote transactions for consumers.

Policy experts from industry associations, including NAIFA Assistant Vice President for Government Relations Judi Carsrud, provided congressional staff with a briefing on the defined contribution retirement system and how Congress can improve it. They explained some common challenges faced by employers providing plans and employees anxious about covering present-day expenses while saving for retirement.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) have introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, also known as the SECURE Act 2.0, and Neal has scheduled a markup session in the committee for Wednesday.

The SECURE Act, enacted in December 2019, changes the rules for certain inherited retirement accounts whose original owners died after Dec. 31, 2019. Under the new rule, many heirs to IRAs and 401(k) accounts will have to fully distribute the funds from their inherited accounts (and pay income tax on the distributions) within 10 years of the original owner’s death. The rule does not apply to surviving spouses, minor children, heirs who are disabled or chronically ill, and heirs who are within 10 years of the age of the decedent.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux issued the following statement following a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on paid family medical leave:

NAIFA Senior Vice President Diane Boyle and Government Relations Director Michael Hedge spend part of their week keeping insurance and financial professionals up-to-date with the latest information on the PRO Act, where it stands, and how it could impact advisors.

On March 25, the Senate passed 92-7 legislation to extend the deadline for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to May 31. The program has issued 7.5 million loans totaling $687 billion to small businesses during the last year, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The bill would also allow the agency an extra month to process applications after the program closes.