[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1730 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1730
To increase portability of and access to retirement savings, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 20, 2021
Ms. Warren (for herself and Mr. Daines) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase portability of and access to retirement savings, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Retirement Savings Lost and Found
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. RETIREMENT SAVINGS LOST AND FOUND.
(a) Retirement Savings Lost and Found.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Labor, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary
of Commerce, in cooperation, shall establish an online
searchable database (to be managed by the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation in accordance with section
4051 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974) to be known as the ``Retirement Savings Lost and
Found''. The Retirement Savings Lost and Found shall--
(i) allow an individual to search for
information that enables the individual to
locate the plan administrator of any plans with
respect to which the individual is or was a
participant or beneficiary, and to provide
contact information for the plan administrator
of any plan described in subparagraph (B);
(ii) allow the corporation to assist such
an individual in locating any plan of the
individual; and
(iii) allow the corporation to make any
necessary changes to contact information on
record for the plan administrator based on any
changes to the plan due to merger or
consolidation of the plan with any other plan,
division of the plan into two or more plans,
bankruptcy, termination, change in name of the
plan, change in name or address of the plan
administrator, or other causes.
The Retirement Savings Lost and Found established under
this subparagraph shall include information reported
under section 4051 of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 and other relevant information
obtained by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
(B) Plans described.--A plan described in this
subparagraph is a plan to which the vesting standards
of section 203 of part 2 of subtitle B of title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
apply.
(2) Administration.--The Retirement Savings Lost and Found
established under paragraph (1) shall provide individuals
described in paragraph (1)(A) only with the ability to view
contact information for the plan administrator of any plan with
respect to which the individual is or was a participant or
beneficiary, sufficient to allow the individual to locate the
individual's plan in order to recover any benefit owing to the
individual under the plan.
(3) Safeguarding participant privacy and security.--In
establishing the Retirement Savings Lost and Found under
paragraph (1), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, in
consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the
Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall take all
necessary and proper precautions to ensure that individuals'
plan information maintained by the Retirement Savings Lost and
Found is protected and that persons other than the individual
cannot fraudulently claim the benefits to which any individual
is entitled, and to allow any individual to opt out of
inclusion in the Retirement Savings Lost and Found at the
election of the individual.
(b) Office of the Retirement Savings Lost and Found.--
(1) In general.--Subtitle C of title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1341 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 4051. OFFICE OF THE RETIREMENT SAVINGS LOST AND FOUND.
``(a) Establishment; Responsibilities of Office.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Labor, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce shall
establish within the corporation an Office of the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found (in this section referred to as the
`Office').
``(2) Responsibilities of office.--
``(A) In general.--The Office shall--
``(i) carry out subsection (b) of this
section;
``(ii) maintain the Retirement Savings Lost
and Found established under section 2(a) of the
Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021;
and
``(iii) perform an annual audit of plan
information contained in the Retirement Savings
Lost and Found and ensure that such information
is current and accurate.
``(B) Option to contract.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this section,
the corporation shall conduct an analysis of
the cost effectiveness of contracting with a
third party to carry out the responsibilities
under subparagraph (A)(iii) and, upon a
determination that such contracting would be
more cost effective than carrying out such
responsibilities within the Office, the
corporation may enter into such contracts as
merited by such analysis.
``(ii) Report.--The corporation shall
report on the results of the analysis under
clause (i) to the Committees on Finance and
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate and the Committees on Ways and Means and
Education and Labor of the House of
Representatives.
``(b) Certain Non-Responsive Participants Entitled to Small
Benefits.--
``(1) General rule.--
``(A) Transfer to the office of the retirement
savings lost and found.--The administrator of a plan
that is not terminated and to which section
401(a)(31)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
applies shall transfer to the Office the amount
required to be transferred under section
401(a)(31)(B)(iv) of such Code for a non-responsive
participant.
``(B) Information and payment to the office.--Upon
making a transfer under subparagraph (A), the plan
administrator shall provide such information and
certifications as the Office shall specify, including
with respect to the transferred amount and the non-
responsive participant.
``(C) Information requirements after transfer.--In
the event that, after a transfer is made under
subparagraph (A), the relevant non-responsive
participant contacts the plan administrator or the plan
administrator discovers information that may assist the
Office in locating the non-responsive participant, the
plan administrator shall notify and provide such
information as the Office shall specify to the Office.
``(D) Search and payment by the office following
transfer.--The Office shall periodically, and upon
receiving information described in subparagraph (C),
conduct a search for the non-responsive participant for
whom the Office has received a transfer under
subparagraph (A). Upon location of a non-responsive
participant who claims benefits, the Office shall make
a single payment to the non-responsive participant in
an amount equal to the sum of--
``(i) the amount transferred to the Office
under subparagraph (A) for such participant;
and
``(ii) the return on the investment
attributable to such amount under section
4005(j)(3).
``(2) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the
term `non-responsive participant' means a participant or
beneficiary of a plan described in paragraph (1)(A)--
``(A) who is entitled to a benefit subject to a
mandatory transfer under section 401(a)(31)(B)(iii) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
``(B) for whom the plan has satisfied the
conditions in section 401(a)(31)(B)(iv) of such Code.
``(3) Regulatory authority.--The Office shall prescribe
such regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of
this section, including rules relating to the amount payable to
the Office and the amount to be paid by the Office.
``(c) Information Collection.--Within such period after the end of
a plan year as the Office may by regulations prescribe, the
administrator of a plan to which the vesting standards of section 203
apply shall submit the following information, and such other
information as the corporation may require, to the corporation in such
form as the corporation may require:
``(1) The information described in paragraphs (1) through
(4) of section 6057(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(2) The information described in subparagraphs (A), (B),
(E), and (F) of section 6057(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986.
``(d) Effective Date.--The requirements of subsections (b) and (c)
shall apply with respect to plan years beginning after the second
December 31 occurring after the date of the enactment of this section.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
section.''.
(2) Establishment of fund for transferred assets.--Section
4005 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1305) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(j)(1) A ninth fund shall be established for the payment of
benefits under section 4051(b)(1)(D).
``(2) Such fund shall be credited with the appropriate--
``(A) amounts transferred to the Office of the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found under section 4051(b)(1)(A); and
``(B) earnings on investments of the fund or on assets
credited to the fund.
``(3) Whenever the corporation determines that the moneys of any
fund are in excess of current needs, it may request the investment of
such amounts as it determines advisable by the Secretary of the
Treasury in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States.''.
(3) Conforming amendment.--The table of contents for the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the matter relating to
section 4050 the following:
``Sec. 4051. Certain non-responsive participants entitled to small
benefits.''.
(c) Mandatory Transfers of Rollover Distributions.--
(1) Investment options.--
(A) In general.--Subparagraph (B) of section
404(c)(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104(c)(3)) is amended by
striking the period at the end and inserting ``, and,
to the extent the Secretary provides in guidance or
regulations issued after the enactment of the
Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021, is made
to--
``(i) a target date or life cycle fund held
under such account;
``(ii) as described in section 2550.404a-2
of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, an
investment product held under such account
designed to preserve principal and provide a
reasonable rate of return;
``(iii) the Office of the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found in accordance with
section 401(a)(31)(B)(iv) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and section 2(c)(2)(A)(ii)
of the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of
2021; or
``(iv) such other option as the Secretary
may so provide.''.
(B) Regulations.--Not later than 270 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Labor shall promulgate regulations identifying the
target date or life cycle funds, or specifying the
characteristics of such a fund, that will be deemed to
meet the requirements of section 404(c)(3)(B)(i) of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1104(c)(3)(B)), as amended by subparagraph (A).
(2) Expansion of cap; authority to transfer lesser
amounts.--
(A) Cap.--Sections 401(a)(31)(B)(ii) and
411(a)(11)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and
section 203(e)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 are each amended by striking
``$5,000'' and inserting ``$6,000''.
(B) Distribution of larger amounts to individual
retirement plans only.--Section 401(a)(31)(B)(i) of
such Code is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``The Office of the Retirement Savings Lost
and Found established by section 2 of the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021 shall not be treated
as a trustee or issuer which is eligible to receive
such distributions.''.
(C) Lesser amounts.--Section 401(a)(31)(B) of such
Code is amended by adding at the end the following new
clauses:
``(iii) Treatment of lesser amounts.--In
the case of a trust which is part of an
eligible plan, such trust shall not be a
qualified trust under this section unless such
plan provides that, if a participant in the
plan separates from the service covered by the
plan and the nonforfeitable accrued benefit
described in clause (ii) is not in excess of
$1,000, the plan administrator shall (either
separately or as part of the notice under
section 402(f)) notify the participant that the
participant is entitled to such benefit or
attempt to pay the benefit directly to the
participant.
``(iv) Transfers to retirement savings lost
and found.--If, after a plan administrator
takes the action required under clause (iii),
the participant does not--
``(I) within 6 months of the
notification under such clause, make an
election under subparagraph (A) or
elect to receive a distribution of the
benefit directly, or
``(II) accept any direct payment
made under such clause within 6 months
of the attempted payment,
the plan administrator shall transfer the
amount of such benefit to the Office of the
Retirement Savings Lost and Found in accordance
with section 4051(b) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974.
``(v) Income tax treatment of transfers to
retirement savings lost and found.--For
purposes of determining the income tax
treatment of transfers to the Office of the
Retirement Savings Lost and Found under clause
(iv)--
``(I) such a transfer shall be
treated as a transfer to an individual
retirement plan under clause (i), and
``(II) the distribution of such
amounts by the Office of the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found shall be treated
as a distribution from an individual
retirement plan.''.
(D) Effective date.--The amendments made by this
paragraph shall apply to vested benefits with respect
to participants who separate from service connected to
the plan in plan years beginning after the second
December 31 occurring after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(d) Better Reporting for Mandatory Transfers.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 6057(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (C)--
(i) by striking ``during such plan year''
in clause (i) and inserting ``during the plan
year immediately preceding such plan year'';
(ii) by adding ``and'' at the end of clause
(i); and
(iii) by striking clause (iii);
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as
subparagraph (G);
(C) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph
(D); and
(D) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the
following new subparagraphs:
``(E) the name and taxpayer identifying number of
each participant or former participant in the plan--
``(i) who, during the current plan year or
any previous plan year, was reported under
subparagraph (C), and with respect to whom the
benefits described in subparagraph (C)(ii) were
fully paid during the plan year,
``(ii) with respect to whom any amount was
distributed under section 401(a)(31)(B) during
the plan year, or
``(iii) with respect to whom a deferred
annuity contract was distributed during the
plan year,
``(F) in the case of a participant or former
participant to whom subparagraph (E) applies--
``(i) in the case of a participant
described in clause (ii) thereof, the name and
address of the designated trustee or issuer
described in section 401(a)(31)(B)(i) and the
account number of the individual retirement
plan to which the amount was distributed, and
``(ii) in the case of a participant
described in clause (iii) thereof, the name and
address of the issuer of such annuity contract
and the contract or certificate number, and''.
(2) Rules relating to direct trustee-to-trustee
transfers.--
(A) In general.--Paragraph (6) of section 402(e) of
such Code is amended--
(i) by striking ``transfers.--Any'' and
inserting ``transfers.--
``(A) In general.--Any''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) Notification of trustee.--In the case of a
distribution under section 401(a)(31)(B), the plan
administrator shall notify the designated trustee or
issuer described in clause (i) thereof that the
transfer is a mandatory distribution required by such
section.''.
(B) Penalty.--Subsection (i) of section 6652 of
such Code is amended--
(i) by striking ``to Recipients'' in the
heading and inserting ``or Notification'';
(ii) by striking ``402(f),'' and inserting
``402(f) or a notification as required by
section 402(e)(6)(B),''; and
(iii) by striking ``such written
explanation'' and inserting ``such written
explanation or notification''.
(C) Reports.--Subsection (i) of section 408 of such
Code is amended--
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of paragraph (2) as clauses (i) and (ii),
respectively, and by moving such clauses 2 ems
to the right;
(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and
(2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively,
and by moving such subparagraphs 2 ems to the
right; and
(iii) by striking ``as the Secretary
prescribes'' in subparagraph (B)(ii), as so
redesignated, and all that follows through ``a
simple retirement account'' and inserting ``as
the Secretary prescribes.
``(3) Simple retirement accounts.--In the case of a simple
retirement account'';
(iv) by striking ``Reports.--The trustee
of'' and inserting ``Reports.--
``(1) In general.--The trustee of'';
(v) by striking ``under paragraph (2)'' in
paragraph (3), as added by clause (iii), and
inserting ``under paragraph (1)(B)''; and
(vi) by inserting after paragraph
(1)(B)(ii), as redesignated by the preceding
clauses, the following new paragraph:
``(2) Mandatory distributions.--In the case of an account,
contract, or annuity to which a transfer under section
401(a)(31)(B) is made (including a transfer from the individual
retirement plan to which the original transfer under such
section was made to another individual retirement plan), the
report required by this subsection for the year of the transfer
and any year in which the information previously reported in
subparagraph (B) changes shall--
``(A) identify such transfer as a mandatory
distribution required by such section,
``(B) include the name, address, and taxpayer
identifying number of the trustee or issuer of the
individual retirement plan to which the amount is
transferred, and
``(C) be filed with the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation as well as with the Secretary.''.
(3) Notification of participants upon separation.--
Subsection (e) of section 6057 of such Code is amended by
inserting ``, and, with respect to any benefit of the
individual subject to section 401(a)(31)(B), a notice of
availability of, and the contact information for, the
Retirement Savings Lost and Found established under section
2(a)(1) of the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021''
before the period at the end of the second sentence.
(4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this paragraph
shall apply to distributions made in, and returns and reports
relating to, years beginning after the second December 31
occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Requirement of Electronic Filing.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 6011(e) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as
clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and by moving such
clauses 2 ems to the right;
(B) by striking ``regulations.--In prescribing''
and inserting ``regulations.--
``(A) In general.--In prescribing''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding subparagraph
(A), the Secretary shall require returns or reports
required under--
``(i) sections 6057, 6058, and 6059, and
``(ii) sections 408(i), 6041, and 6047 to
the extent such return or report relates to the
tax treatment of a distribution from a plan,
account, contract, or annuity,
to be filed on magnetic media, but only with respect to
persons who are required to file at least 50 returns
during the calendar year which includes the first day
of the plan year to which such returns or reports
relate.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this paragraph
shall apply to returns and reports relating to years beginning
after the second December 31 occurring after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(f) Rulemaking To Clarify Fiduciary Duties.--
(1) Request for information.--Not later than 1 year after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue a
request for information relating to the rulemaking described in
paragraph (2).
(2) Issuance of final rule.--Not later than 3 years after
such date, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue a final rule that
defines the following:
(A) The steps a plan sponsor must take to locate a
deferred vested participant in order to meet its
fiduciary duty under section 404 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 with respect to
locating that participant.
(B) The ongoing practices and procedures a plan
sponsor must institute in order to meet such fiduciary
duty with respect to maintaining up-to-date contact
information on deferred vested participants.
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