House Bill 2960 will cost the state nearly one million dollars and force additional expenses upon employers and small businesses.
House Democrats yesterday passed House Bill 2960, legislation that creates the Oregon Retirement Savings Board within the state treasurer’s office at a price tag of $993,541. The bill forces Oregon employers to offer a defined contribution retirement plan as defined by the Oregon Retirement Savings Board if the employer does not already provide a qualified retirement plan. The bill is the latest proposal by legislative
“Let’s cut through the politics and deal with the reality that is before us: we have an income problem in Oregon. People in Oregon aren’t saving enough for retirement because they aren’t making enough money,” said House Republican Leader Mike McLane (R – Powell Butte), who pointed out that Washingtonians earn on average $7,000 more in personal income than Oregonians. “Just weeks after Democrats proposed a bill to keep the kicker, today, they stand to propose another mandate, another forced choice, which says that the government knows best when it comes to your money. We want to be able to raise the income of Oregonians because we have a government that partners with our communities and businesses, not against them.”
House Bill 2960 creates a seven-member Oregon Retirement Savings Board in the state treasurer’s office, which will be tasked with developing a mandatory payroll deduction retirement plan for employers to offer employees if they do not currently offer a qualified retirement plan. Estimated by the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on General Government to cost the State of Oregon nearly one million dollars, HB 2960 gives the newly created Oregon Retirement Savings Board broad rulemaking authority when defining what the mandated retirement plan should entail. Additionally, the Board will have the assumed authority to establish and levy penalties upon businesses that cannot afford to comply with the mandate.
House Republicans unanimously rejected the partisan legislation on the grounds that the proposal represents a government overreach and will only serve as a costly and burdensome mandate on employers while doing nothing to address the long-term, systemic failure of the state to increase incomes.
Chief sponsored by Democratic Representative Tobias Read, who recently sponsored legislation to prevent Oregon taxpayers from receiving their income tax kicker refund, HB 2960 passed the House on a near party-line vote, 32-26. House Democrats Caddy McKeown and David Gomberg joined Republicans in voting against the legislation.
