State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

California retirement benefit program in Congress crosshairs

The Sacramento Bee: Congressional Republicans are moving to eliminate Obama administration labor regulations that helped California establish its Secure Choice program, a landmark effort to automatically enroll millions of private-sector workers without retirement plans in a state-run savings account.

The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, would allow Congress to wipe out federal Labor Department regulations. That would potentially fuel legal challenges to current state programs such as the one in California, as well as impede future moves to enact the benefit in other states.

When Gov. Jerry Brown signed his Senate Bill 1234 in the fall, its author, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, along with state Treasurer John Chiang and other supporters, argued it would help stabilize Californians’ retirement years. They estimated millions of workers could enroll automatically by the end of the decade.

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