I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2523 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 with respect 
to the scope of employee pension benefit plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 18, 2017 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. 
LEE, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 with respect to the scope of employee pension 
benefit plans. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserve Rights Of 
States and Political subdivisions to Encourage Retirement 
Savings Act’’ or the ‘‘PROSPERS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 3 of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002) is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:09 May 25, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2523.IH
H2523
sspencer on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
and credits) received directly from the State or 
qualified political subdivision (or governmental agen-
cy or instrumentality of either) that does not exceed 
an amount that reasonably approximates the em-
ployer’s (or a typical employer’s) costs under the 
program. 
‘‘(ii) A State savings program will not fail to satisfy 
the requirements of subclauses (I) through (XI) of clause 
(i) merely because the program— 
‘‘(I) is directed toward those employers that do 
not offer some other workplace savings arrangement; 
‘‘(II) utilizes one or more service or investment 
providers to operate and administer the program, 
provided that the State (or governmental agency or 
instrumentality of the State) retains full responsi-
bility for the operation and administration of the 
program; or 
‘‘(III) treats employees as having automatically 
elected payroll deductions in an amount or percent-
age of compensation, including any automatic in-
creases in such amount or percentage, unless the 
employee specifically elects not to have such deduc-
tions made (or specifically elects to have the deduc-
tions made in a different amount or percentage of 
compensation allowed by the program), provided 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:09 May 25, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2523.IH
H2523
sspencer on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
that the employee is given adequate advance notice 
of the right to make such elections and provided, 
further, that a program may also satisfy the require-
ments of such subclauses (I) through (XI) without 
requiring or otherwise providing for automatic elec-
tions such as those described in this subclause. 
‘‘(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
‘‘qualified political subdivision’’ means any governmental 
unit of a State, including a city, county, or similar govern-
mental body, that— 
‘‘(I) has the authority, implicit or explicit, 
under State law to require employers’ participation 
in the program as described in clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) at the time of the establishment of the po-
litical subdivision’s payroll deduction savings pro-
gram— 
‘‘(aa) has a population equal to or greater 
than the population of the least populated State 
(excluding the District of Columbia and terri-
tories listed in paragraph (10)); 
‘‘(bb) has no geographic overlap with any 
other political subdivision that has enacted a 
mandatory payroll deduction savings program 
for private-sector employees and is not located 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:09 May 25, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2523.IH
H2523
sspencer on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
in a State that has enacted such a program 
statewide; and 
‘‘(cc) has implemented and administers a 
plan, fund, or program that provides retirement 
income to its employees, or results in a deferral 
of income by its employees for periods extend-
ing to the termination of covered employment 
or beyond. 
‘‘(iv) For purposes of clause (i)(III), amounts with-
held from an employee’s wages by the employer are 
deemed to be transmitted promptly if such amounts are 
transmitted to the program as of the earliest date on 
which such contributions can reasonably be segregated 
from the employer’s general assets, but in no event later 
than the last day of the month following the month in 
which such amounts would otherwise have been payable 
to the employee in cash.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:09 May 25, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2523.IH
H2523
sspencer on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS