Connecticut Bill On Retirement Plans - Update

An April 15, 2009 the CT Appropriations Committee voted 30 - 24 in FAVOR of SB No. 1. Below is the language as passed by the committee.

AN ACT CONCERNING ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR CONNECTICUT FAMILIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section, "small employer" means a business with one hundred or fewer employees.
(b) The Comptroller shall establish a tax-qualified defined contribution retirement program to provide retirement investment plans, including, but not limited to, those created under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, to self-employed individuals, small employers and organizations qualifying as tax-exempt pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of said Internal Revenue Code. In administering such plan, the Comptroller shall seek to minimize costs by helping small employers, such organizations and individuals purchase retirement savings plans, arrangements and investments through economies of scale, standardization and other measures.
(c) In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Comptroller shall contract with a third-party administrator for the management of such plan or plans and shall recover from program assets expenses incurred to initiate, operate and administer the program established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

Wells Thomas, LLC opposes this bill.

Click on the title of this article to be taken to the CT Government Website to track this bill.

Sometimes you just can't make this stuff up

Well I don't know WHY I am surprised...our local government does not seem to be in the mind-set of HELPING businesses in this state it seems. So it really should be of no surprise that, once again, a bill is being proposed for the State-Sponsored 401(k) Plan for small companies.

But wait...didn't this issue JUST come up last month?! And didn't the Commerce Committee agree it should not be pursued?

Absolutely.

This time it is being reintroduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams as SB No 1, labeled fashionably: AN ACT CONCERNING ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR CONNECTICUT FAMILIES.

So...once again our fine state wants to compete with local industry. And as the financial industry is a large part of the state, what this bill is saying to others is: "Hey, the Connecticut Government doesn't have any faith in the services the institutional providers in our state offer, and we think we can do it better ourselves." Great way to instill confidence in others, don't you think?! Let's tell the rest of the country that one of our largest exports in Connecticut, the financial services industry, doesn't even have the SUPPORT of the state legislature! Great idea...

If you want to follow the latest status of the bill, click on the title of this article...it will take you to the state's site...