Ways and Means Republicans authored key provisions in new bipartisan legislation to help more Americans take care of their families, help workers save for and manage their retirement, and help Main Street businesses, still suffering labor shortages, attract employees with better retirement benefits.

• Congressman Kelly contributed several provisions, including a new tax credit for small businesses with up to 50 employees that will offset the first $1,000 of employer matching contributions.
• Congressman Schweikert’s provision raises the amount late-career workers can contribute to “catch up” on their retirement savings, doubling it from $5,000 a year to $10,000 a year.
• Congressman LaHood’s provision supports employees paying down student loan debt by allowing employer matching contributions to a retirement plan.
• Congressman Wenstrup’s provision helps military spouses by providing a tax credit for small employers that make military spouses eligible for plan benefits.
• Another provision by Congressman Wenstrup reduces costs for retirees by cutting red tape on cost-efficient investments like exchange traded funds (ETFs).
• Congressman Estes and Congressman Kelly have also contibuted provisions that provide greater flexibility for retirees by raising the age for required minimum distributions to 75 over time and by reducing the penalty for failure to take those distributions from 50 percent to 25 percent, and if corrected, lower that penalty even further to 10 percent.
• Another provision from Congressman Kelly helps charities by expanding options for contributions from retirement accounts, so that people don’t face artificial limits to giving even while they’re in retirement.
• Congressman Smucker has a provision that stands up for survivors of domestic violence by exempting them from any penalty for taking “hardship withdrawals” from a retirement plan.
• Congressman Arrington offered a provision to modernize the law and protect business owners – especially women-owned businesses – from the application of outdated family attribution rules.
• Congressman Schweikert offered a provision that helps gig workers and independent contractors set up their own retirement accounts by expanding access to Solo 401(k)’s.

Thanks to these provisions, and many others, Americans will be able to build their retirement savings and have greater control over their financial future.