SECURE 2.0 might have to wait, NAILBA panelist says

DALLAS – The clock might run out before Congress can get around to vote on the popular SECURE 2.0 retirement savings legislation, a panel agreed this morning.

But if that happens, it will likely be just a minor setback, said Jeff Ricchetti, co-founder of Ricchetti, Inc., a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm. He was part of the Washington Update panel at the NAILBA41 Annual Meeting.

"I hope it passes before the end of the year but ideas like this don't die," Ricchetti said. "Congress comes back. ... People want you to help them with their lives, so there's an impetus to get this done. I'd rather see it done in December. If it doesn't, it's not going away. We're going to do this in the next year."

The House passed the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, known as Secure 2.0, on March 29 with overwhelming support. The Senate followed up with two different versions. While the House and Senate versions differ in the details, both would expand retirement savings for workers. For older workers, the plans would accelerate catch-up contributions into retirement plans.

There is wide hope that Congress will pass SECURE 2.0 by the end of the year. But the Washington Update panel noted that there are a lot of pressing things going on, starting with leadership races on the Republican side.

Ricchetti, a Democratic-leaning lobbyist, brought several strong opinions and predictions to the panel, not all of which found agreement. The brother of Steve Ricchetti, senior aide to President Joe Biden, Jeff Ricchetti predicted another term for Biden and that he finds a way to raise taxes on the wealthy.

"It's lets-make-a-deal time, as it should be," Ricchetti said.

But Ricchetti earned a rebuke from other panelists when he suggested that the Internal Revenue Service crack down on "tax cheats."

"I don't know why it's in vogue and popular and interesting to be considered a tax cheat. I don't consider it American. I don't consider it patriotic. And I don't consider it Christian," he said. "Why are we in the business of defending people who are aggressively violating the law and not paying their fair share?"

"Jeff, just for the record, nobody in this room is for tax cheats," countered Armstrong Robinson, chief advocacy officer for Finseca. "I want to pay all the taxes I owe and not a penny more."

Soaring debt

Ken Kies is the managing director of the Federal Policy Group. The U.S. government is going to spend nearly $6 trillion this year, up from about $4 trillion in 2019.

"Interest on the national debt is currently 7% of total spending. In 10 years it'll be 14%," Kies said. "So, to paraphrase President Biden, we are headed into federal debt hell. It's bad for our kids and grandkids. Since I had my first grandchild last Wednesday, I'm actually feeling a lot more invested in the situation than I did."

If the U.S. government violates the debt limit, "even once," Robinson added, "there will be no going back." A breach of the debt limit would roil financial markets, destroy business access to capital, stop payments to critical government programs that support retirees, veterans, and children, and threaten the entire U.S. economy.

The panel also touched on potential new powerbrokers in the incoming 118th Congress. In particular, Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., is the frontrunner for chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Kies said, if Republicans win House control as expected. Other contenders include Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Adrian Smith, R-Neb.

"Buchanan would probably for us as a business guy, very successful, self made," Kies said. "But we won't know until December."

Finally, the panel, which included Jay Heimbach, a consultant with Tiber Creek Group, split on who will take the Republican nomination for president in 2024: former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"I think Republicans have just gotten tired of Trump," said Kies, who favored DeSantis.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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