Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today urged his colleagues not to block states from creating automatic individual retirement accounts, which have the potential to provide 30 million additional Americans access to opportunities to save at work for retirement.
In a video this morning, Senator Bennet encouraged his constituents to make their voices heard on this important issue.
“Coloradans have plenty of good ideas for how elected officials could do a better job in Washington,” Bennet said. “Making it harder to save for retirement isn’t one of them. Unfortunately, today, the Senate may do exactly that. We should be making it easier for Americans to save, not harder.
Today, the U.S. Senate may vote to block state-driven initiatives that would help Americans save for retirement. A procedural vote is scheduled for around 10:30 AM ET.
Right now, roughly half of private sector workers – including 46 percent in Colorado – lack an option to save through their employer. States across the country are creating laws that require employers of a certain size to enroll workers automatically in an individual retirement account, commonly known as an “auto-IRA.” If this option was made available nationwide, 30 million more Americans would have a better path to retirement.
Already, five states have passed auto-IRA initiatives that would be allowed to move forward if the state rules remain in place, providing 12 million workers access to a retirement account at work. Dozens more – including Colorado – are poised to move forward with similar efforts.
In March, Bennet wrote an op-ed on this topic.