zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Automatic IRA Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require certain employers who do not maintain qualifying retirement plans or arrangements to make available to their eligible employees a payroll deposit individual retirement account (IRA) arrangement (automatic IRA arrangement) which grants such employees the right to opt-out of participation; (2) require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide employers with a model notice for notifying employees of their opportunity to participate in an automatic IRA arrangement and to provide participants with an annual statement setting forth payments, earnings, value, and other specified information; (3) impose a penalty on employers who fail to provide eligible employees access to an automatic IRA arrangement; (4) allow employers who do not have more than 100 employees a tax credit for costs associated with establishing an automatic IRA arrangement; and (5) increase the dollar limitation on the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs.

Establishes an Automatic IRA Advisory Group to make recommendations regarding automatic IRA investment options.

Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Labor to jointly conduct feasibility studies on: (1) extending spousal consent requirements to automatic IRA arrangements; (2) automatically transferring amounts saved by employees in retirement bonds into alternative, private sector, diversified investments when employees' automatic IRA balances reach a certain dollar level; (3) using investment data to notify individuals with multiple small balance retirement accounts of consolidation options; and (4) using investment arrangements associated with automatic IRAs to assist in addressing the problem of abandoned accounts.

Directs the Secretaries to prescribe administrative guidance for the use of multiple employer plans by December 31, 2015.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Retirement Security Act of 2015

 Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) prescribe final regulations to permit employers to participate in multiple employer pension benefit plans, (2) promulgate regulations or other guidance to simplify and clarify rules relating to the timing of participant notices required under tax-preferred pension plans and the automatic escalation rules, and (3) modify the 1040EZ tax return form to allow taxpayers to claim the tax credit for retirement savings (saver's credit) on such form.

Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to employer pension benefit plans, to: (1) allow employers to maintain a tax-exempt multiple employer pension benefit plan even if the employers sponsoring the plan share no common interest, (2) modify requirements for secure deferral arrangements with respect to nondiscrimination and employer matching contributions, and (3) allow employers with not more than 100 employees a business-related tax credit to cover increased matching contributions required by this Act.

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
CEO-Employee Paycheck Fairness Act of 2015 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a publicly held corporation a tax deduction for the payment of performance-based remuneration in excess of $1 million to any of its current or former officers or directors if such corporation does not meet the pay fairness requirement established by this Act. Deems the pay fairness requirement to be satisfied if: (1) the average compensation paid by the employer for all applicable U.S. employees for the taxable year exceeds the inflation and productivity growth adjusted average (i.e., $118,450 in 2015) of such compensation for the preceding taxable year; and (2) the aggregate compensation paid by the employer to or for all applicable employees for the taxable year is not less than the aggregate of such compensation for the preceding taxable year. 

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Permanent IRA Charitable Contribution Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the exclusion from gross income of distributions from individual retirement accounts made for charitable purposes.

(Sec. 3) This provision exempts the budgetary effects of this Act from entry on PAYGO scorecards under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

Date: 2015-02-02
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
New IDEA Act or the New Illegal Deduction Elimination Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a tax deduction for wages and benefits paid to or on behalf of an unauthorized alien. Extends to six years the period for assessing and collecting underpayments of tax due to deductions claimed for wages paid to unauthorized aliens.

Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretaries of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Treasury to jointly establish a program to share information that may lead to the identification of unauthorized aliens. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to provide taxpayer identity information to the Commissioner of Social Security and the DHS Secretary on employers who paid nondeductible wages to unauthorized aliens and on the aliens to whom such wages were paid.

Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to: (1) make permanent the E-Verify Program for verifying the employment eligibility of alien workers, (2) apply such program to current employees in addition to new hires, (3) establish a rebuttable presumption that employers who participate in the E-Verify Program and obtain confirmation of identity and employment eligibility have not violated hiring requirements under such Act, and (4) allow employers participating in the E-Verify Program to make a conditional offer of employment pending final verification of the identity and employment eligibility of the job applicant.

Date: 2015-02-10
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the special rule for the exclusion from gross income of amounts received by an employee from a governmental accident or health plan to include amounts paid from plans established by or on behalf of a state or political subdivision.

Date: 2015-02-11
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Healthy Families Act

 Requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to permit each employee to earn at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

Authorizes small employers with fewer than 15 employees to provide the same paid sick time, but allows them to opt out. Requires any small employer that opts out to provide at least 56 hours of unpaid sick time to each employee per calendar year.

Declares that an employer shall not be required to permit an employee to earn more than 56 hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, unless the employer chooses to set a higher limit.

Allows employees to use such time to: (1) meet their own medical needs; (2) care for the medical needs of certain family members (including a domestic partner or the domestic partner's parent or child); or (3) seek medical attention, assist a related person, take legal action, or engage in other specified activities relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Prohibits an employer from interfering with an employee's exercise of such rights.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to exercise certain investigative and enforcement authority for employees covered by this Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. Grants the same authority, for employees under their jurisdiction, to the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance, and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Authorizes civil actions by employees, individuals, or their representatives for damages or equitable relief against employers who violate this Act.

Waives a state's sovereign immunity with respect to a suit brought by an employee of a federally-assisted state program or activity for relief authorized under this Act.

Requires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to compile information annually on paid sick time and the Comptroller General to study related matters.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining more generous leave policies.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Accountability in Unemployment Act of 2015 

 Amends title III (Grants to States for Unemployment Compensation) of the Social Security Act to require state laws to deny unemployment compensation to applicants unless they undergo drug testing and test negative.

Requires a retest after a 30-day waiting period for applicants who test positive for any one of several specified drugs.

Denies unemployment compensation for five years to any applicant who tests positive for drugs three or more times.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Flexibility for Working Families Act

Authorizes an employee to request from an employer a temporary or permanent change in the terms or conditions of the employee's employment if the request relates to: (1) the number of hours the employee is required to work, (2) the times when the employee is required to work or be on call for work, (3) where the employee is required to work, or (4) the amount of notification the employee receives of work schedule assignments. Sets forth certain employer duties with respect to such requests.

Makes it unlawful for an employer to interfere with any rights provided to an employee under this Act. Authorizes an employee to file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor for any violations of such rights. Provides for the investigation and assessment of civil penalties or the award of relief for alleged violations, including the review in federal courts of appeal of orders of the Secretary.

Requires the Secretary and certain federal agency administrative officers to provide information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public regarding compliance with this Act.

Requires the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor to issue guidance on compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act that provides a flexible work environment through changes in employee terms and conditions of employment provided in this Act.

Applies the requirements of this Act to certain classes of employees, including employees of the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress.

Date: 2015-03-18
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employee Benefits Protection Act of 2015

 Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the mandatory summary description of a group health plan to declare: (1) whether the plan permits either the plan sponsor or any participating employer to unilaterally modify or terminate plan benefits affecting employees, retirees, and beneficiaries; and (2) when and to what extent plan benefits are fully vested with respect to these individuals.

Presumes that retiree health benefits cannot be modified or terminated as of the date an employee retires or completes 20 years of service with the employer. Allows this presumption to be overcome only upon a showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the employee, before becoming a plan participant, was made aware, in clear and unambiguous terms, that the plan allowed for such a modification or termination of benefits.

Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization and employer to enter into a contract or agreement to modify a previous agreement in a manner that results in a reduction or termination of retiree health insurance benefits, if the modification occurs after the retiree's retirement date.

Directs the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on strategies used by corporations to avoid obligations to pay promised employee and retiree benefits.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Vested Employee Pension Benefit Protection Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employees in the building and construction industry to make distributions from their tax-exempt multi-employer pension plan at age 55 if they are not separated from employment at the time of such distributions and were participants in such plan on or before April 30, 2013, and the plan provides for payment of separate accrued benefits when the employee attains the plan's normal retirement age. Suspends payment of distributions for such building and construction industry employees if their multi-employer plan is in endangered or critical status.

Date: 2015-04-28
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Stop Subsidizing Multimillion Dollar Corporate Bonuses Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the $1 million limitation on the deductibility of employee compensation, to: (1) extend such limitation to any individual who is a current or former officer, director, or employee of a publicly-held corporation; (2) eliminate the exemption from such limitation for compensation payable on a commission basis or upon the attainment of a performance goal; and (3) make such limitation applicable to all publicly-held corporations that are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to register securities and provide periodic reports to their investors.

Date: 2015-04-29
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Lifetime Income Disclosure Act 

 Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the quarterly pension benefit statement furnished to a participant or beneficiary with the right to direct the investment of assets in his or her account under an individual account plan to include a lifetime income disclosure at least once during any 12-month period.

Requires such lifetime income disclosure to set forth the lifetime income stream equivalent of the participant's or beneficiary's total benefits accrued. Defines a lifetime income stream equivalent of the total benefits accrued as the monthly annuity payment the participant or beneficiary would receive if those total accrued benefits were used to provide lifetime income streams to a qualified joint and survivor annuitant.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to:

 issue a model lifetime income disclosure, written in a manner which can be understood by the average plan participant; and prescribe assumptions that plan administrators may use in converting total accrued benefits into lifetime income stream equivalents. Declares that no plan fiduciary, plan sponsor, or other person shall have any liability under ERISA solely by reason of the provision of lifetime income stream equivalents derived in accordance with such assumptions and related rules and including explanations contained in the model lifetime income disclosure.

Date: 2015-05-14
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
This bill requires that all monies designated for union health insurance plans or funds be, without exception, fully reciprocated to a worker's home health plan or fund.

Date: 2015-05-15
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
(Sec. 1) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the additional 50% depreciation allowance, known as bonus depreciation, for depreciable business property (i.e., qualified property) placed in service after December 31, 2014. The term "qualified property" is modified to include qualified improvement property, in lieu of qualified leasehold improvement property, which is defined as any improvement to an interior portion of a building that is nonresidential real property if such improvement is placed in service after the date such building was first placed in service. The bill also increases by $8,000 (with an annual inflation adjustment after 2015) the maximum allowable depreciation deduction for a passenger automobile (i.e., any 4-wheeled vehicle that is manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways and is rated at 6,000 pounds unloaded gross vehicle weight or less).

The bill also makes permanent the election to increase the alternative minium tax credit limitation in lieu of bonus depreciation for taxable years ending after December 31, 2014.

The bill allows an additional depreciation allowance for any specified plant that is planted, or grafted to a plant that has already been planted, by the taxpayer in the ordinary course of the taxpayer's farming business. The term "specified plant" means: (1) any tree or vine that bears fruits or nuts, and (2) any other plant that will have more than one yield of fruits or nuts and that generally has a period of more than two years from the time of planting or grafting to the time at which such plant begins bearing fruits or nuts. This allowance is applicable to specified plants planted or grafted after December 31, 2014.

(Sec. 2) The bill prohibits the entry of the budgetary effects of this Act on any PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Receiving Electronic Statements To Improve Retiree Earnings Act

This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to authorize a document of any type that is required or permitted to be furnished to a retirement plan participant, beneficiary, or other individual to be furnished in electronic form if: (1) the system for furnishing such a document is designed to result in effective access to the document; (2) an annual paper notice is provided to each pension plan participant, beneficiary, or other individual that describes the selection of the specific electronic means for the furnishing of such document; and (3) the electronically-furnished document is prepared and furnished in an appropriate style and format and includes a notice that apprises the recipient of the significance of the document.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Group Term Life Insurance Increase Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the limit on the amount of employer-provided group term life insurance that an employee may exclude from his or her gross income for income tax purposes. Currently, an employee may exclude from gross income up to $50,000 of the cost of such insurance plus any amount paid by the employee for the purchase of such insurance. The bill increases the $50,000 limit to $375,000, and adjusts such increased limit for inflation in taxable years beginning after 2015.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Keep Our Pension Promises Act 

This bill repeals the elimination of the pension anti-cutback provisions under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The anti-cutback provisions prohibit reductions in pension benefits to participants in multiemployer pension plans.

The bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow a plan sponsor of an eligible multiemployer plan to petition the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for a partition of a financially-troubled pension plan. PBGC is required to establish a legacy fund to cover the administrative and benefit costs resulting from a partition..

The bill amends the federal bankruptcy code to assign first claim priority to pension obligations under ERISA.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a limit of $1 million on the exemption of the gain from the exchange of real property in a like kind exchange, (2) prohibit the use of like kind exchanges for collectibles, (3) establish estate valuation rules for certain transfers of nonbusiness assets, and (4) limit estate tax discounts for certain individuals with minority interests in a business acquired from a decedent.

Date: 2015-06-19
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-free rollovers from tax-exempt retirement plans, annuities, and deferred compensation plans into a simple individual retirement account.

Date: 2015-07-14
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Schedules That Work Act 

Grants an employee the right to request that his or her employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to:

 the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification he or she receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Requires the employer, if the request is made, to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet his or her needs. Outlines the process for either granting or denying a change.

Requires the employer to grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, his or her responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job.++_

Authorizes an employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, to deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. Requires the employer to give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason.

Outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's (DOL) designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities.

Makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this Act; (2) retaliate against an individual for exercising his or her rights, or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights.

Sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions.

Directs DOL to give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this Act.

Directs DOL, acting through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of the Census to: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey.

Makes this Act inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.

Date: 2015-07-15
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Pension Accountability Act

This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to revise rules for voting on the suspension of pension benefits under multiemployer plans in endangered or critical status. The bill changes the voting procedure for suspending plan benefits to provide that a suspension shall go into effect unless a majority of plan participants and beneficiaries who cast a vote (currently, a majority of all plan participants and beneficiaries) reject the suspension. The bill also eliminates the authority of the Department of the Treasury, in the case of systemically important plans, to override a vote of plan participants to reject a suspension. A plan is systemically important if projected financial assistance to the plan will exceed $1 billion if suspensions are not implemented.

Date: 2015-11-17
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Small Businesses Add Value for Employees Act of 2015 or the SAVE Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to employer-established simple individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and pension plans, to:

 repeal restrictions on rollovers from simple IRAs to qualified retirement plans; allow employers to elect to terminate simple IRAs at any time during the year; repeal the increased 25% penalty on premature distributions from simple IRAs within the first two plan years; allow additional nonelective employer contributions to simple IRAs not exceeding 10% of compensation; establish automatic deferral IRAs to permit the automatic enrollment of employees earning at least $5,000 in a preceding year; establish secure deferral arrangements for automatically enrolling employees at 6% of pay with annual increases; allow small employers a new tax credit for the cost of adopting safe harbor requirements for secure deferral arrangements; allow a transfer of unused benefits in a flexible spending arrangement to a qualified retirement or eligible deferred compensation plan; increase the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs; and establish multiple small employer retirement plans that provide for automatic employee contributions. The bill requires: (1) the Department of the Treasury to promulgate regulations regarding the timing of notices to participants in automatic contribution pension plans; (2) the Office of Financial Education of Treasury to develop and implement an outreach plan to educate small businesses on the types and benefits of available retirement plans; (3) Treasury and the Department of Labor to develop recommendations for small businesses to improve retirement outcomes; and (4) Treasury, in consultation with the Department of Education, to develop age-appropriate financial literacy curricula for elementary and secondary schools.

The bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) exempt IRAs that permit payroll deductions from additional pension plan requirements, (2) require disclosures relating to lifetime income from pension plans and annuities, and (3) set forth safe harbor criteria for the selection of an annuity contract and an insurer.

Date: 2015-11-18
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Church Plan Clarification Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of church pension plans, to: (1) provide that an organization otherwise eligible to participate in a church plan shall not be aggregated with another such organization and treated as a single employer with it unless one such organization provides at least 80% of the operating funds for the other organization during the recipient organization's preceding tax year and there is a degree of common management or supervision between the organizations, (2) adopt benefit accrual limitations for church defined benefit plans established before 1982, and (3) allow transfers and mergers of qualified church retirement plans.

The bill also: (1) preempts any state law relating to wage, salary, or payroll payment, collection, deduction, garnishment, assignment, or withholding that would directly or indirectly prohibit or restrict the inclusion in any church plan of an automatic contribution arrangement; and (2) allows church plans and their supporting organizations to invest plan assets in a group trust (as defined by Internal Revenue Service Revenue Rulings).

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Women's Pension Protection Act of 2015

This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) extend spousal consent requirements to defined contribution pension plans, and (2) allow certain long-term part-time workers to participate in pension plans that include either a qualified cash or deferred arrangement or a salary reduction agreement.

Financial product or service providers who sell retirement financial products or services must provide purchasers of their products or services an easily accessible link to the website of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to obtain information relating to retirement planning or later life economic security.

The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor shall award grants to certain community-based organizations to improve the financial literacy of women who are working age or in retirement.

Date: 2015-12-10
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Volatility And Losses Undermining Earnings Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to waive the minimum distribution requirements for certain defined contribution pension plans or individual retirement plans during calendar year 2016.

Date: 2016-01-08
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Making Your Retirement Accessible Act or the MyRA Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an employee retirement option known as a MyRA account. A MyRA account functions as a Roth Individual Retirement Account. An employee who elects to establish a MyRA account may contribute any portion of a tax refund or make automatic payroll contributions to the account.

The funding of MyRA accounts is limited to retirement savings bonds issued by the Department of the Treasury with a specified interest rate and maturity date.

The bill imposes a tax on any employer who fails to comply with the requirement for making direct deposits to a MyRA account of wages designated by an employee.

Date: 2016-02-08
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Expanding Employee Ownership Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee: (1) shares of employer securities received in a qualified employee stock distribution as compensation for services that do not exceed the lowest number of employer securities received by any employee in such distribution; (2) any gain on such securities if held by an employee for not less than 10 years; and (3) in the case of any qualified disposition of an employer security that meets such 10-year holding requirement, any gain on so much stock acquired during the 60-day period beginning on the date of such disposition as does not exceed the fair market value of the employer security so disposed.

Employers may claim a tax deduction for the fair market value of securities transferred in a stock distribution. Employees must recapture in gross income the amount of employer securities excluded from gross income if such securities are disposed of within five years after receipt.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Grow Philanthropy Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual who is at least 70-1/2 years of age up to $100,000 in distributions from an individual retirement plan to a donor-advised fund.

(A donor-advised fund is a fund or account that is separately identified by reference to contributions of a donor or donors. The account is owned and controlled by a sponsoring charitable organization, while the donor retains advisory privileges with respect to the distribution and investment of funds in the account.)

Date: 2016-04-12
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Expanding Penalty Free Withdrawal Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the exceptions that permit penalty-free distributions to unemployed individuals from retirement plans.

The 10% additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans does not apply to an individual after separation from employment if: (1) the individual has received federal or state unemployment compensation for 26 consecutive weeks or, if less, the maximum period available under state law, and (2) the distributions are made during the year or the succeeding year in which the compensation is paid.

The exception is limited to the lesser of: (1) $50,000 from all plans of the individual over a one-year period, or (2) the greater of $10,000 or one-half of the fair market value of the individual's retirement plans and the nonforfeitable portion of the individual's defined contribution plans.

The exception does not apply to distributions that are: (1) included in the existing exception for distributions to unemployed individuals for health insurance premiums, or (2) are made after the individual has been employed for at least 60 days after the separation.

Date: 2016-04-15
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Legacy IRA Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the tax exclusion for distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes.

The bill increases from $100,000 to $400,000 the annual limit on the aggregate amount of distributions for charitable purposes that may be excluded from the gross income of a taxpayer.

The bill permits tax-free distributions from IRAs to a split-interest entity until December 31, 2020. A split-interest entity is exclusively funded by charitable distributions and includes: a charitable remainder annuity trust, a charitable remainder unitrust, or a charitable gift annuity. A charitable gift annuity must commence fixed payments of at least 5% no later than one year from the date of funding.

A distribution to a split-interest entity may only be treated as a qualified charitable distribution if: (1) no person holds an income interest in the entity other than the individual for whose benefit the account is maintained, the spouse of such individual, or both; and (2) the income interest in the entity is nonassignable.

The bill limits the exclusion annually to: $100,000 for distributions to charitable organizations, and $400,000 for distributions to split-interest entities.

Tax-free distributions to a split-interest entity may be made when the account beneficiary attains age 65. (Under current law, the beneficiary must attain the age of 70-1/2 for IRA distributions to a charitable organization.)

Date: 2016-05-06
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Help All Americans Save for College Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the tax treatment of qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans) and ABLE accounts. (Tax-favored ABLE [Achieving a Better Life Experience] accounts are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses.)

The bill excludes employer contributions to an employee's 529 plan or ABLE account from the gross income of an individual, certain employment taxes, and taxes on self-employment earnings.

The exclusions are limited to the lesser of: (1) the compensation includible in the individual's gross income for the year, or (2) $5,000 ($10,000 in the case of a joint return) for each dependent of the taxpayer who is the designated beneficiary of a 529 plan.

The bill also allows an individual to deduct up to $5,000 of the aggregate contributions of the individual to a 529 plan and an ABLE account.

The bill revises the 10% additional tax for distributions from a 529 plan or an ABLE account that are not used for qualified purposes to change the rate to the greater of: (1) 10%, or (2) the highest rate of income tax applicable to the taxpayer.

Date: 2016-05-10
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
American Savings Account Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish a new retirement option for all employees and self-employed individuals to be known as the American Savings Account Fund. This fund operates in a manner similar to the Thrift Savings Fund, which is available to federal employees.

The bill establishes an American Savings Account Board of Directors to establish policies for fund investment and management. The board shall select or establish a list of investment funds and options similar to those in the Thrift Savings Fund, among which participants may choose.

The board shall establish an American Savings Account Fund Advisory Council to advise the board on matters relating to investment policies.

The American Savings Account Fund is tax-exempt and contributions to, or distributions from, it are excludible from gross income.

Date: 2016-06-10
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on September 16, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Empowering Employees through Stock Ownership Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employee to elect to defer, for income tax purposes, income attributable to certain stock transferred to the employee by an employer.

The employee may defer the inclusion of income from the stock until the year that includes the earliest of the dates on which:

 the stock becomes transferable; the employee becomes an excluded employee; stock of the corporation becomes readily tradable on an established securities market; seven years have passed after the rights of the employee in the stock are transferable or are not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, whichever occurs earlier; or the employee revokes the election with respect to the stock. The stock must meet specified requirements and be transferred to the employee from an eligible corporation in connection with the performance of services as an employee.

A corporation is eligible if: (1) no stock of the corporation or a predecessor of the corporation is readily tradable on an established securities market during any preceding calendar year, and (2) it has a written plan under which at least 80% of all employees who provide services to the corporation in the United States (or a U.S. possession) are granted stock options, or restricted stock units, with the same rights and privileges to receive qualified stock.

Employees are excluded if they: (1) are a 1% owner, the chief executive officer, or the chief financial officer of the corporation or have been at any time during the 10 preceding calendar years; (2) are a family member of the specified individuals; or (3) have been one of the four highest compensated officers of the corporation during any of the 10 preceding taxable years.

The corporation transferring stock must notify employees regarding the option of deferring income and meet specified withholding and reporting requirements.

Date: 2016-07-11
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Train the Future Act

 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an early distribution, without penalty, from a qualified retirement plan to an employee who is serving as a mentor. The bill defines "mentor" as a working individual who: (1) has attained age 55; (2) works reduced hours and engages in mentoring activities for at least 20% of such hours; and (3) is responsible for the training and education of employees or students in an area of expertise for which such individual has a professional credential, certificate, or degree.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude certain purchases of employee-owned stock from being considered as outstanding voting stock for the purpose of the tax on excess business holdings of a private foundation in a business enterprise.

The bill applies to any voting stock that is: (1) not readily tradable on an established securities market; (2) purchased by the business enterprise on or after January 1, 2005, from a stock bonus or profit sharing plan in which employees of the business enterprise participate, in connection with a distribution from the plan; and (3) held by the business enterprise as treasury stock, cancelled, or retired.

Date: 2016-11-17
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Labor to cooperate to modify specified returns required for deferred compensation plans and other employee benefit plans to permit all members of a group of plans to file a single aggregated annual return or report satisfying the requirements of both the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

The requirement applies to a group in which all of the plans:

 are individual account plans or defined contribution plans; have the same trustee, the same one or more named fiduciaries, the same administrator, and plan years beginning on the same date; and provide the same investments or investment options to participants and beneficiaries. The bill also specifies that, for the purposes of applying the numerical limitations related to the electronic filing of returns for deferred compensation plans, each plan for which information is provided on the return must be treated as a separate return.

Date: 2016-11-29
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Use It or Choose It Act of 2016

This bill allows an individual, when moving from one position (i.e., any form of compensated employment, including part-time employment and independent contracting) within the workforce to another, to elect to retain any benefits (i.e., health care-related benefits, workers compensation, life insurance, family and medical leave, and annual, sick, paternity, or maternity leave) earned when occupying such position.

The bill requires contractual providers of such benefits to extend them on the same terms and conditions as those provided to employees in the former position, or those similarly situated. Employers accruing funds or reserves corresponding to leave or other benefits shall transfer such funds or reserves to new employers upon request.

Date: 2016-12-07
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment
Graduate Student Savings Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow funds paid to an individual to aid in the pursuit of graduate or postdoctoral study or research to be saved in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The bill permits the funds to be considered compensation for purposes of current law provisions that limit annual deductible IRA contributions to the lesser of: (1) the deductible amount permitted under current law, or (2) the compensation includible in the individual's gross income for the year.

Date: 2016-12-07
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Automatic IRA Act of 2015

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require certain employers who do not maintain qualifying retirement plans or arrangements to make available to their eligible employees a payroll deposit individual retirement account (IRA) arrangement (automatic IRA arrangement) which grants such employees the right to opt-out of participation; (2) require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide employers with a model notice for notifying employees of their opportunity to participate in an automatic IRA arrangement and to provide participants with an annual statement setting forth payments, earnings, value, and other specified information; (3) impose a penalty on employers who fail to provide eligible employees access to an automatic IRA arrangement; (4) allow employers who do not have more than 100 employees a tax credit for costs associated with establishing an automatic IRA arrangement; and (5) increase the dollar limitation on the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs.

Establishes an Automatic IRA Advisory Group to make recommendations regarding automatic IRA investment options

Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Labor to jointly conduct feasibility studies on: (1) extending spousal consent requirements to automatic IRA arrangements; (2) automatically transferring amounts saved by employees in retirement bonds into alternative, private sector, diversified investments when employees' automatic IRA balances reach a certain dollar level; (3) using investment data to notify individuals with multiple small balance retirement accounts of consolidation options; and (4) using investment arrangements associated with automatic IRAs to assist in addressing the problem of abandoned accounts.

Directs the Secretaries to prescribe administrative guidance for the use of multiple employer plans by December 31, 2015.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Shrinking Emergency Account Losses Act of 2015 or the SEAL Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to loans made from a qualified employer pension plan, to: (1) extend the period for repayment of loans if a plan terminates or a plan participant becomes unemployed, and (2) prohibit plans from allowing the use of credit cards or similar arrangements to access loan amounts.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to modify regulations governing hardship distributions from qualified employer pension plans to allow participants to make additional contributions to a plan during the six month period following a hardship distribution.

Date: 2015-01-30
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Taxation
Reducing Overlapping Payments Act

 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to require reduced to zero the total of an individual's monthly disability insurance benefits and any spouse's, surviving spouse's, child's, widow's, widower's, or parent's OASDI benefits based on the individual's wages and self-employment income for any month before the individual attains retirement age in which that individual is entitled to both disability insurance benefits and unemployment compensation.

Date: 2015-02-03
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Social welfare
Lifetime Income Disclosure Act 

 Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the quarterly pension benefit statement furnished to a participant or beneficiary with the right to direct the investment of assets in his or her account under an individual account plan to include a lifetime income disclosure at least once during any 12-month period.

Requires such lifetime income disclosure to set forth the lifetime income stream equivalent of the participant's or beneficiary's total benefits accrued. Defines a lifetime income stream equivalent of the total benefits accrued as the monthly annuity payment the participant or beneficiary would receive if those total accrued benefits were used to provide lifetime income streams to a qualified joint and survivor annuitant.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to:

 issue a model lifetime income disclosure, written in a manner which can be understood by the average plan participant; and prescribe assumptions that plan administrators may use in converting total accrued benefits into lifetime income stream equivalents. Declares that no plan fiduciary, plan sponsor, or other person shall have any liability under ERISA solely by reason of the provision of lifetime income stream equivalents derived in accordance with such assumptions and related rules and including explanations contained in the model lifetime income disclosure.

Date: 2015-05-13
Topic: Labor (Employee Benefits)
Subject: Labor and employment