Senator Hassan Delivers Senate Floor Speech Opposing Bill to Eliminate Retirement Savings Provisions for Small Business Workers

Senator Hassan Delivers Senate Floor Speech Opposing Bill to Eliminate Retirement Savings Provisions for Small Business Workers

Click here for video of Senator Hassan's speech.

The AARP has estimated that 55 million Americans - including roughly 230,000 Granite Staters - do not have access to a retirement plan at their workplace.

Key Quotes from Senator Hassan's speech:

• "Every American who has worked hard throughout their life deserves the ability to retire knowing that they will be financially secure. But it is clear that we are on the verge of a retirement crisis. More and more Americans are retiring every day without the economic security that they need, and we are beginning to see the harmful impacts of what happens to a generation that was not afforded the opportunity to participate in a traditional pension plan.

• "... retirement plans sponsored by states help save taxpayer dollars. Greater retirement security would result in fewer older Americans falling into poverty - reducing the number of citizens who would be forced to access social safety net programs. This Department of Labor rule is exactly the type of commonsense, bipartisan proposal that we should all support - and I am willing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in order to address the retirement needs of Granite Staters and all Americans."

Click here for video or see below for full text as prepared for delivery:

M. President, I rise today in opposition to the Congressional Review Act measure to overturn the Department of Labor's rule that gives states the flexibility to help small business workers save for retirement.

M. President, every American who has worked hard throughout their life deserves the ability to retire knowing that they will be financially secure.

But it is clear that we are on the verge of a retirement crisis. More and more Americans are retiring every day without the economic security that they need, and we are beginning to see the harmful impacts of what happens to a generation that was not afforded the opportunity to participate in a traditional pension plan.

The AARP has estimated that 55 million Americans - including roughly 230,000 Granite Staters - do not have access to a retirement plan at their workplace. And participation in retirement plans has dropped over the past several years.

Few low- and middle-income families have retirement accounts. For families who fall into the lowest 25 percent of household incomes, fewer than 10 percent have retirement savings accounts.

Even among families, where the primary wage earners are between the ages of 56 and 61 - those who are nearing retirement - the median retirement account balance for all families, regardless of income, was only $17,000, far less than what those families will need to live on in retirement.

Therefore, we should be doing everything possible to support these future retirees, and look for opportunities to help them save now.

The Department of Labor rule that we are debating supports states' efforts to enter into innovative public-private partnerships that would increase personal savings rates for employees of small businesses.

The rule makes clear that small businesses will experience no operational burden for these plans, and workers have the opportunity to opt out of these plans, if they choose.

Already - we've seen five states adopt their own plans based on this guidance, and additional states are considering similar programs that best match the retirement needs of their citizens.

And we are starting to see results - research has suggested that employees with access to retirement plans from their employers are 15 times more likely to save for retirement.

Unfortunately, M. President, too many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are pushing this Congressional Review Act measure to roll back the progress states are making, and to limit a state's ability to decide to facilitate a critical service for their citizens.

If this measure passes today, the 12 million Americans who have already benefited from their states entering these partnerships will see their retirement plans impacted - and the other states considering these measures will have to stop.

As a former Governor, I understand how decisions made here in Congress have the ability to impact a state's ability to innovate and grow. And it is unacceptable that Republicans would vote to limit a state's authority to help their citizens save.

M. President, in states across the country there is broad, bipartisan support for state-facilitated retirement plans.

Recent surveys have found that 80% of private sector workers support state-facilitated plans to help them save money for retirement, and 80% of small business owners say they support the basic concept behind these plans.

The bipartisan National Council of State Legislatures said passage of the CRA would "result in an unwarranted preemption of state innovation," and will "restrict the ability of millions of hardworking Americans to save for retirement."

The AARP has written "A Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn this rulemaking represents significant overreach by the federal government."

M. President, I find great irony in the fact that many of my Republican colleagues are voting to limit the ability of states and localities to innovate and craft policy- something that they often say they support in other areas.

Additionally, M. President, retirement plans sponsored by states help save taxpayer dollars. Greater retirement security would result in fewer older Americans falling into poverty - reducing the number of citizens who would be forced to access social safety net programs.

This Department of Labor rule is exactly the type of commonsense, bipartisan proposal that we should all support - and I am willing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in order to address the retirement needs of Granite Staters and all Americans.

Undoing states' progress on this front by voting in favor of this measure would limit the ability of more Americans to save for their retirement.

I will vote against this measure, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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