Legislative and Regulatory Report and Outlook for 2009 – Overview

February 2009

Obama Administration, Congress Unlikely to Include Retirement Actions in 2009 Agenda

Despite hope that the Congress would have an economic stimulus package ready for Inauguration Day, the bill continued to be debated in the Senate with the hope a final package would be on President Obama’s desk for signing before a mid-February President’s Day break.

Earlier, then President George Bush signed The Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act (H.R. 7327) – a package of retirement and pension provisions – into law. The package included the technical corrections bill to the Pension Protection Act (PPA) and several other retirement provisions.

Other legislative attention in 2008 focused on Roth 457 plans, fee disclosure, changes for HRA beneficiaries and further guarantees on money market fund holdings.