,,ii #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #ajce ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,may #c1 #bjag ,mr4 ,heinrich 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,murphy1 ,mrs4 ,murray1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,mr4 ,durbin1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,ms4 ,hassan1 ,mr4 ,carper1 ,mrs4 ,feinstein1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mrs4 ,shaheen1 ,ms4 ,harris1 ,mr4 ,bennet1 ,mr4 ,whitehouse1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,ms4 ,duckworth1 ,mr4 ,booker1 and ,mr4 ,cardin7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,employee ,retirement ,income ,security ,act of #aigd with respect to the scope of employee pension benefit plans4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,preserve ,rights ,of ,states and ,political subdivisions to ,encourage ,retirement ,savings ,act or the ,,prospers ,act4 #b4 ,definitions ,section #c of the ,employee ,retirement ,income ,security ,act of #aigd 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #ajjb7 is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph 7#b7-- 7,a7 in subparagraph 7,a71 by striking subparagraph 7,b7 and inserting subparagraphs 7,b7 and 7,c72 and 7,b7 by adding at the end the following3 7,c7 7i7 ,the terms employee pension benefit plan and pension plan do not include an individual retirement plan 7as defined in section #ggja7;a77#cg7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf7 established and maintained pursuant to a payroll deduction savings program of a ,state or qualified political subdivision of a ,state1 provided that-- 7,i7 the program is specifically established pursuant to ,state or qualified political subdivision law2 7,,ii7 the program is implemented and administered by the ,state or qualified political subdivision establishing the program 7or by a governmental agency or instrumentality of either71 which is responsible for investing the employee savings or for selecting investment alternatives for employees to choose2 7,,iii7 the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 assumes responsibility for the security of payroll deductions and employee savings1 including by requiring that amounts withheld from wages by the employer be transmitted to the program promptly and by providing an enforcement mechanism to assure compliance with this requirement2 7,,iv7 the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 adopts measures to ensure that employees are notified of their rights under the program1 and creates a mechanism for enforcement of those rights2 7,v7 participation in the program is voluntary for employees2 7,,vi7 all rights of the employee1 former employee1 or beneficiary under the program are enforceable only by the employee1 former employee1 or beneficiary1 an authorized representative of such a person1 or by the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either72 7,,vii7 the involvement of the employer is limited to-- 7aa7 collecting employee contributions through payroll deductions and remitting them to the program2 7bb7 providing notice to the employees and maintaining records regarding the employer's collection and remittance of payments under the program2 7cc7 providing information to the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 necessary to facilitate the operation of the program2 and 7dd7 distributing program information to employees from the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 and permitting the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 to publicize the program to employees2 7,,viii7 the employer contributes no funds to the program and provides no bonus or other monetary incentive to employees to participate in the program2 7,,ix7 the employer's participation in the program is required by the law of the ,state law or qualified political subdivision2 7,x7 the employer has no discretionary authority1 control1 or responsibility under the program2 and 7,,xi7 the employer receives no direct or indirect consideration in the form of cash or otherwise1 other than consideration 7including tax incentives and credits7 received directly from the ,state or qualified political subdivision 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of either7 that does not exceed an amount that reasonably approximates the employer's 7or a typical employer's7 costs under the program4 7ii7 ,a ,state savings program will not fail to satisfy the requirements of subclauses 7,i7 through 7,,xi7 of clause 7i7 merely because the program-- 7,i7 is directed toward those employers that do not offer some other workplace savings arrangement2 7,,ii7 utilizes one or more service or investment providers to operate and administer the program1 provided that the ,state 7or governmental agency or instrumentality of the ,state7 retains full responsibility for the operation and administration of the program2 or 7,,iii7 treats employees as having automatically elected payroll deductions in an amount or percentage of compensation1 including any automatic increases in such amount or percentage1 unless the employee specifically elects not to have such deductions made 7or specifically elects to have the deductions made in a different amount or percentage of compensation allowed by the program71 provided that the employee is given adequate advance notice of the right to make such elections and provided1 further1 that a program may also satisfy the requirements of such subclauses 7,i7 through 7,,xi7 without requiring or otherwise providing for automatic elections such as those described in this subclause4 7iii7 ,for purposes of this subparagraph1 the term #8qualified political subdivision' means any governmental unit of a ,state1 including a city1 county1 or similar governmental body1 that-- 7,i7 has the authority1 implicit or explicit1 under ,state law to require employers' participation in the program as described in clause 7i72 and 7,,ii7 at the time of the establishment of the political subdivision's payroll deduction savings program-- 7aa7 has a population equal to or greater than the population of the least populated ,state 7excluding the ,district of ,columbia and territories listed in paragraph 7#aj772 7bb7 has no geographic overlap with any other political subdivision that has enacted a mandatory payroll deduction savings program for private-sector employees and is not located in a ,state that has enacted such a program statewide2 and 7cc7 has implemented and administers a plan1 fund1 or program that provides retirement income to its employees1 or results in a deferral of income by its employees for periods extending to the termination of covered employment or beyond4 7iv7 ,for purposes of clause 7i77,,iii71 amounts withheld from an employee's wages by the employer are deemed to be transmitted promptly if such amounts are transmitted to the program as of the earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer's general assets1 but in no event later than the last day of the month following the month in which such amounts would otherwise have been payable to the employee in cash4 4