[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5325 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5325
To direct the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation allowing
administrators of certain pension plans to voluntarily transfer
unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property
programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 11, 2025
Mr. Magaziner (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce,
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation allowing
administrators of certain pension plans to voluntarily transfer
unclaimed retirement distributions to State unclaimed property
programs.
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 ``Unclaimed Retirement Rescue Plan''.
SEC. 2. UNCLAIMED RETIREMENT DISTRIBUTIONS REGULATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate a
regulation described in subsection (b).
(b) Regulation Described.--The regulation described in this
subsection shall--
(1) comply with the requirements of this section; and
(2) allow administrators of pension plans and other
responsible fiduciaries to transfer unclaimed retirement
distributions to State unclaimed property programs through the
States' Unclaimed Retirement Clearing House that manages the
voluntary transfer of funds nationally across State unclaimed
property programs.
(c) Prerequisites for Plan and Other Responsible Fiduciary
Transfers to States.--
(1) In general.--Prior to transferring unclaimed retirement
distributions to State unclaimed property programs, a plan or
other responsible fiduciary shall, with respect to unclaimed
retirement distributions that are $50 or more--
(A) to the extent that it has not already done so,
attempt to identify, through an informational database
search and through a search of a commercially
reasonable outside source, the current address and
other contact information, such as a phone number or
email address of a participant or other beneficiary
owed such a distribution if the plan or other
responsible fiduciary has reason to believe that
contact information of such participant or beneficiary
available to the plan or the fiduciary is inaccurate;
and
(B) send a notice to the participant or beneficiary
entitled to such a distribution that--
(i) explains that the plan or other
responsible fiduciary is in possession of the
distribution and that absent a timely response
from the participant or beneficiary, the
distribution will be transferred to the State
unclaimed property program of the State where
the participant or other party last resided;
and
(ii) provides instructions to the
participant or beneficiary to prevent the
transfer of the distribution to a State
unclaimed property program.
(2) Form of notice.--For the purposes of sending a notice
described in paragraph (1)(B), the plan administrator or other
responsible fiduciary may determine the form of sending such
notice, so long as such notice--
(A) is reasonably expected to reach the participant
or beneficiary; and
(B) is sent in a secure means, such as through
email, an online portal, or the mail, and protects the
personal information of participants and beneficiaries.
(3) Mailing not required.--The sending of a notice
described in paragraph (1) shall not be required if, following
completion of the search required by paragraph (1)(A), the
search does not provide updated contact information for a
participant or beneficiary.
(d) Plan or Fiduciary Relief.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the administrator of a pension plan or other fiduciary that
satisfies the requirements of this section and any applicable
regulations when making a transfer to a State unclaimed property
program shall, with respect to such transfer, be deemed to have
satisfied the requirements of sections 404(a) and 406 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104(a); 1106).
(e) Information Sharing Mechanism.--For the purposes of updating
plan records and ensuring compliance with section 404 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104), the Secretary
shall make available to plan administrators a means of verifying
whether a distribution transferred under this section to a State
unclaimed property program has been claimed by a participant or
beneficiary.
(f) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, a plan
fiduciary shall submit to the Secretary of Labor a report that
includes--
(A) with respect to each transfer of an unclaimed
retirement distribution to a State unclaimed property
program that has not been reported to the Secretary--
(i) the name, social security number, date
of birth, and last known address of the
participant or beneficiary entitled to the
unclaimed retirement distribution, including
any applicable qualified domestic relations
order (as defined in section 206 (d)(3)(B)(i)
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(3)(B)(i)));
(ii) the amount of the distribution
transferred;
(iii) the State to which the transfer was
made; and
(iv) the name of the plan or responsible
fiduciary who transferred the distribution; and
(B) with respect to any transfer of an unclaimed
retirement distribution to a State unclaimed property
program that has been claimed by a participant or
beneficiary, an identification of such transfer.
(2) Report not subject to public disclosure.--A report
required under this subsection shall not be subject to public
disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Retirement savings lost and found.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of Labor shall
include all information submitted under paragraph (1)
and any information received pursuant to the mechanism
established under subsection (d) in the Retirement
Savings Lost and Found Database, established pursuant
to section 523 of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1153).
(B) Collected distributions.--From the information
received under this subsection, indicate in such
database the distributions that were claimed by a
participant or beneficiary.
(g) Participant Data.--A pension plan or fiduciary will not violate
section 404(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and shall
not be subject to liability for transmitting participant data to a
State unclaimed property program through a national clearinghouse,
provided that the pension plan or fiduciary exercises reasonable care
in making the transmittal.
(h) Treatment of Transfer for Purposes of Qualified Trust Rules.--A
trust forming part of a pension plan shall not be treated as failing to
constitute a qualified trust under section 401 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 merely because the pension plan of which such trust is a
part makes a transfer that meets the requirements of this section and
the regulations promulgated thereunder.
(i) Congressional Report.--Not later than 24 months after the
promulgation of the regulation described in subsection (a), the
Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress a report--
(1) on the progress and effectiveness of the regulation;
and
(2) any recommendations on how to improve the regulation.
(j) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Contact information.--The term ``contact information'',
with respect to a participant or beneficiary, means identifying
information, including a mailing address, phone number, or
email address.
(2) ERISA terms.--In this Act, the terms ``administrator'',
``fiduciary'', and ``pension plan'' have the meanings given the
terms in section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1003).
(3) Informational database.--The term ``informational
database'' means a commercially available database or a
government-provided database.
(4) Outside source.--The term ``outside source'' means a
commercial locator database, address verification service, or a
publicly or commercially accessible database.
(5) State unclaimed property program.--As used in this Act,
the term ``State unclaimed property program'' means the
statutory-based initiative undertaken by the 50 State, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin
Islands to safeguard and return financial assets that have
become unclaimed or forgotten by their owners.
(6) Unclaimed retirement distribution.--
(A) In general.--The term ``unclaimed retirement
distribution'' means--
(i) with respect to a pension plan that has
undergone or is in the process of termination,
any distribution that has not been cashed or
otherwise claimed within the 90-day period
beginning on the date that the distribution
became payable; or
(ii) with respect to any other pension
plan, any single unpaid obligation owed to a
participant or beneficiary by such a pension
plan that has not been cashed or otherwise
claimed for a 12-month period beginning on the
date that the such obligation became payable,
and does not exceed $5,000, regardless of--
(I) the basis for the obligation;
(II) whether an attempt to
distribute the obligation was returned
as undeliverable; or
(III) whether it has been
previously reduced to a check or other
form of payment.
(B) Maximum amount.--The Secretary of Labor may, in
their discretion, increase the $5,000 limit in clause
(ii) of subparagraph (A).
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