SEAL Act 2013 Support Letter

The Honorable Bill Nelson
U.S. Senate
716 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mike Enzi
U.S. Senate
379A Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Nelson and Ranking Member Enzi:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region supports S. 606, the “Shrinking Emergency Account Losses Act of 2013” (the SEAL Act).  An important component of retirement security is ensuring that retirees have sufficient assets to fund their retirement.  The purpose of the SEAL Act is to discourage the use of retirement assets before retirement occurs. 

The Act includes three key provisions that we support.  First, the Act bans products that promote asset leakage, such as the 401(k) debit card which would provide essentially unrestricted access to retirement savings by plan participants.  Second, the Act allows 401(k) plan participants to continue to make elective contributions following a hardship withdrawal.  Due to the current financial crisis, many workers have had to take hardship distributions from their retirement plans.  The loss of retirement savings should not be exacerbated by prohibiting these workers from making on-going contributions to their retirement plan.  Finally, the Act extends the rollover period for plan loan amounts.  This provision will decrease the number of participants who default on their outstanding loans and incur tax penalties in addition to the loss of retirement savings.

While it may not always be possible to avoid using retirement savings before retirement, the Chamber believes the SEAL Act could help to preserve certain retirement assets.  For these reasons, the Chamber supports this legislation and urges Congress to take steps to further the enactment of the bill.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten

cc: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Senate Special Aging Committee
 

Read the Letter: 

SEAL Act 2013 Support Letter