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U.S. Signals Policy Shift on California State Retirement-Savings Program
Signaling a shift in retirement policy, the U.S. Labor Department has dropped its support for a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate a California state retirement-savings program for people who lack access to 401(k) plans at work.
In a notice filed in a federal appeals court on Feb. 5, the agency said because of the change in administration, it “no longer wishes to participate” in the case and “does not support either side.”
The reversal “isn’t surprising,” said John Scott, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts’s retirement-savings project. President Biden, during his campaign, expressed support for government-sponsored savings programs for the estimated one-third of private-sector workers who lack access to a workplace retirement-savings plan.
Currently, three states—California, Oregon and Illinois—are enrolling workers in such plans. Other states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Colorado and Connecticut, are developing similar programs.
Mr. Scott said the Biden administration might ultimately decide to back a nationwide retirement-savings program for those without such plans at work. “It just depends on their priorities,” he said.
Read more @WSJ
