New state-sponsored IRA plans would aim to help small business employees who don’t already have access to a retirement savings plan at work — like a 401(k). But new legislation could stop them before they even begin.

The House of Representatives voted along party lines last month to roll back an Obama-era rule that paved the way for these plans. On Thursday, the Senate narrowly passed legislation that takes another step toward finalizing the repeal.

Republicans say that under President Obama, the Department of Labor created a “loophole” that allows the plans to bypass a consumer protection law.

“This resolution, once passed and signed, will roll back a last-second Department of Labor regulation that eliminated long-standing federal protections for the retirement savings of private-sector workers,” said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and Oregon have already approved plans that would require businesses to enroll their workers in state-sponsored IRAs if they don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The IRA would be vetted by the state, but provided by a private firm. Oregon and Illinois plan to be the first to roll out these plans later this year.

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