Washington Perspective, May 2007

Roth 457 Plan Pulled From Spending Bill

A proposal to create a Roth 457 account, similar to existing Roth 401(k) and Roth 403(b) arrangements passed both houses as part of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill. However it was subsequently dropped from the House-Senate conference committee agreement that will be sent to the President. [more on the Roth 457 Plan Pulled From Spending Bill ]

HRA Beneficiary Fix

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) recently introduced the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Ac of 2007, HR 1820. It would provide tax parity to non-spouse/non-dependent individuals who qualify for and receive employer-provided health plan benefits. The bill also permits a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) to provide full health benefits to a non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiary without endangering its tax-exempt status.[more on the HRA Beneficiary Fix]

National Save for Retirement Week

Currently, the goal is to make National Save for Retirement Week a recurring national event, which requires Congressional approval beyond the Senate resolution designating the week in 2006. With that as the target, ICMA-RC has worked with Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), a co-sponsor of the initial resolution last year, to gain re-introduction of a Senate resolution designating October 21-27, 2007, as National Save for Retirement Week.[more on National Save for Retirement Week]

Technical Corrections to PPA

Typical of most comprehensive legislation, there are a number of clarifications needed to the PPA after its enactment. Congressional staff at each of the tax committees - and to a lesser degree the House Education & Labor and Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension Committees - is developing a package of technical corrections that will fix mistakes and typos, and provide technical interpretations/clarifications to the PPA.[more on Technical Corrections to PPA]