II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5064 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase retirement savings, 

to improve retirement plan administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 

retirement savings, to improve retirement plan administration, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Access to 

5 Retirement Savings Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MULTIPLE EMPLOYER 403(b) PLANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(b) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(15) MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5064 IS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of 

2 a church plan, this subsection shall not be 

3 treated as failing to apply to an annuity con4 tract solely by reason of such contract being 

5 purchased under a plan maintained by more 

6 than 1 employer. 

7 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYERS FAILING

8 TO MEET REQUIREMENTS OF PLAN.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

10 plan maintained by more than 1 employer, 

11 this subsection shall not be treated as fail12 ing to apply to an annuity contract held 

13 under such plan merely because of 1 or 

14 more employers failing to meet the require15 ments of this subsection, if such plan satis16 fies rules similar to the rules of section 

17 413(e)(2) with respect to any such em18 ployer failure. 

19 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN

20 CASE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL PLANS.—A 

21 plan shall not be treated as meeting the re22 quirements of this subsection unless the 

23 plan meets the requirements of subpara24 graph (A) or (B) of section 413(e)(1), ex25 cept in the case of a multiple employer 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5064 IS

1 plan maintained solely by a State, a polit2 ical subdivision of a State, or an agency or 

3 instrumentality thereof.’’. 

4 (b) ANNUAL REGISTRATION FOR 403(b) MULTIPLE

5 EMPLOYER PLAN.—Section 6057 of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection (g) 

7 as subsection (h) and by inserting after subsection (f) the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(g) 403(b) MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS TREATED

10 AS 1 PLAN.—In the case of annuity contracts to which 

11 this section applies and to which section 403(b) applies 

12 by reason of the plan under which such contracts are pur13 chased meeting the requirements of paragraph (15) there14 of, such plan shall be treated as a single plan for purposes 

15 of this section.’’. 

16 (c) ANNUAL INFORMATION RETURNS FOR 403(b) 

17 MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLAN.—Section 6058 of the Inter18 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 

19 subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by inserting after sub20 section (e) the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(f) 403(b) MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS TREATED

22 AS 1 PLAN.—In the case of annuity contracts to which 

23 this section applies and to which section 403(b) applies 

24 by reason of the plan under which such contracts are pur25 chased meeting the requirements of paragraph (15) thereVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5064.IS S5064

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5064 IS

1 of, such plan shall be treated as a single plan for purposes 

2 of this section.’’. 

3 (d) AMENDMENTS TO EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT IN4 COME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.— 

5 (1) TREATED AS POOLED EMPLOYER PLAN.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(43)(A) of the 

7 Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 

8 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(43)(A)) is amended— 

9 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘section 

10 501(a) of such Code or’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘501(a) of such Code, a plan that consists 

12 of contracts described in section 403(b) of 

13 such Code, or’’; and 

14 (ii) in the flush text at the end, by 

15 striking ‘‘the plan.’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

16 plan, but such term shall include any pro17 gram (other than a governmental plan) 

18 maintained for the benefit of the employees 

19 of more than 1 employer that consists of 

20 contracts described in section 403(b) of 

21 such Code and that meets the require22 ments of subparagraph (A) or (B) of sec23 tion 413(e)(1) of such Code.’’. 

24 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Para25 graphs (43)(B)(v)(II) and (44)(A)(i)(I) of secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5064.IS S5064

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5064 IS

1 tion 3 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1002) are each 

2 amended by striking ‘‘section 401(a) of such 

3 Code or’’ and inserting ‘‘401(a) of such Code, 

4 a plan that consists of contracts described in 

5 section 403(b) of such Code, or’’. 

6 (2) FIDUCIARIES.—Section 3(43)(B)(ii) of such 

7 Act (29 U.S.C. 1002(43)(B)(ii)) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘trustees meeting the re9 quirements of section 408(a)(2) of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986’’ and inserting ‘‘trustees 

11 (or other fiduciaries in the case of a plan that 

12 consists of contracts described in section 403(b) 

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) meeting 

14 the requirements of section 408(a)(2) of such 

15 Code’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘holding’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘holding (or causing to be held under the terms 

18 of a plan consisting of such contracts)’’. 

19 (e) REGULATIONS RELATING TO PLAN TERMI20 NATION.—The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Sec21 retary’s designee) shall prescribe such regulations as may 

22 be necessary to clarify the treatment of a plan termination 

23 by an employer in the case of plans to which section 

24 403(b)(15) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 applies. 

25 (f) MODIFICATION OF MODEL PLAN LANGUAGE.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5064 IS

1 (1) PLAN NOTIFICATIONS.—The Secretary of 

2 the Treasury (or the Secretary’s designee) shall 

3 modify the model plan language published under sec4 tion 413(e)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

5 to include language which notifies participating em6 ployers which are exempt from tax under section 

7 501(a) of such Code that the plan is subject to the 

8 Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 

9 and that such employer is a plan sponsor with re10 spect to its employees participating in the multiple 

11 employer plan and, as such, has certain fiduciary 

12 duties with respect to the plan and to its employees. 

13 (2) MODEL PLANS FOR MULTIPLE EMPLOYER

14 403(b) NON-GOVERNMENTAL PLANS.—For plans to 

15 which section 403(b)(15)(A) of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 applies (other than a plan maintained 

17 for its employees by a State, a political subdivision 

18 of a State, or an agency or instrumentality thereof) 

19 the Secretary shall publish model plan language 

20 similar to model plan language published under sec21 tion 413(e)(5) of such Code. 

22 (g) NO INFERENCE WITH RESPECT TO CHURCH

23 PLANS.—Regarding any application of section 403(b) of 

24 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to an annuity contract 

25 purchased under a church plan (as defined in section 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5064 IS

1 414(e) of such Code) maintained by more than 1 em2 ployer, or to any application of rules similar to section 

3 413(e) of such Code to such a plan, no inference shall 

4 be drawn solely because section 403(b)(15)(A) of such 

5 Code (as added by this Act) does not apply to such plans. 

6 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to plan years beginning after 

9 December 31, 2020. 

10 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

11 amendments made by subsection (a) shall be con12 strued as limiting the authority of the Secretary of 

13 the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate (determined 

14 without regard to such amendment) to provide for 

15 the proper treatment of a failure to meet any re16 quirement applicable under the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986 with respect to one employer (and its 

18 employees) in the case of a plan to which section 

19 403(b)(15) applies. 

20 SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR CORRECTIONS OF EMPLOYEE 

21 ELECTIVE DEFERRAL FAILURES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 414 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following new subsection: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 5064 IS

1 ‘‘(aa) CORRECTING AUTOMATIC CONTRIBUTION ER2 RORS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any plan or arrangement 

4 shall not fail to be treated as a plan described in 

5 section 401(a), 403(b), 408, or 457(b), as applica6 ble, solely by reason of a corrected error. 

7 ‘‘(2) CORRECTED ERROR.—For purposes of this 

8 subsection, the term ‘corrected error’ means a rea9 sonable administrative error in implementing an 

10 automatic enrollment or automatic escalation feature 

11 in accordance with the terms of an eligible automatic 

12 contribution arrangement (as defined under sub13 section (w)(3)), provided that such implementation 

14 error— 

‘‘(A) is corrected by the date which is 91 15 ⁄2

16 months after the end of the plan year during 

17 which the failure occurred, 

18 ‘‘(B) is corrected in a manner which is fa19 vorable to the participant, and 

20 ‘‘(C) is of a type which is so corrected for 

21 all similarly situated participants in a non22 discriminatory manner. 

23 Such correction may occur before or after the partic24 ipant has terminated employment and may occur 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 5064 IS

1 without regard to whether the error is identified by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE FOR FAVOR4 ABLE CORRECTION METHODS.—The Secretary shall, 

5 by regulations or other guidance of general applica6 bility, specify the correction methods which are in a 

7 manner favorable to the participant for purposes of 

8 paragraph (2)(B).’’. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

10 this section shall apply to the correction of any error with 

11 respect to which the date described in section 

12 414(aa)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 

13 added by this section) is after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF CREDIT FOR SMALL EMPLOYER 

16 PENSION PLAN STARTUP COSTS TO EMPLOY17 ERS WHICH JOIN AN EXISTING PLAN. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45E(d)(3)(A) of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘ef20 fective’’ and inserting ‘‘effective with respect to the eligible 

21 employer’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 this section shall apply to eligible employer plans which 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 5064 IS

1 become effective with respect to the eligible employer after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS