House Appropriations Chair Luke Torian’s House Bill 2174, establishing the VirginiaSaves retirement savings program, passed the House of Delegates Tuesday by a vote of 56-44.
VirginiaSaves would be an automatic enrollment payroll deduction individual retirement account program housed in Virginia529 to promote retirement savings for private sector employees whose employers do not otherwise offer qualified retirement plans.
The plan would be optional for employees and portable between eligible employers. Employers with five or more employees who do not already offer a retirement benefit would be required to allow employees to participate.
“I have championed the creation of a VirginiaSaves program for many years,” Torian said. “Approximately 45 percent of Virginia’s workforce does not have access to a retirement savings plan at work. VirginiaSaves will afford workers a retirement savings vehicle at no cost and no liability to private employers.
“This is an opportunity for all Virginia workers to build long-term savings not tied to a single employer. Virginia529 can do for retirement planning what it did for college savings. VirginiaSaves could be a crucial wealth-building mechanism so that a single unexpected expense does not force Virginians to borrow or cut essentials from a fixed budget.”
HB2174 is supported by Gov. Ralph Northam, AARP Virginia, Small Business Majority, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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