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Fresh perspectives on savings and impact.

Stacy Garrity,

Fun fact, and this is related, we have the largest working vault in the nation. It was built in 1939 at a cost of $600,000. Adjusted that for inflation, that’s over $17 million today. The front door alone is 60 tons of steel. If you've seen the movie Ocean’s 11, our vault is way cooler, except that we don't have George Clooney.

When you get behind that vault door, you’ll find we have many military decorations – one of my favorite things in the vault. I'm a veteran. Returning military decorations is very near and dear to my heart. Since I took office, we've returned 229 decorations, including two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. We have campaign medals from every branch of service, from every major conflict. We also have memorabilia like dog tags and citations. These are all things that obviously the veteran held in very high esteem.

(More HERE! Don’t miss the rest of Treasurer’s Garrity priorities from rural outreach to savings programs, such as PA529 College and Career Savings Program and PA ABLE.)

I'd be delighted to. We announced the bill back in the middle of December -- it's House Bill 2156. The prime sponsors are Representative Tracy Pennycuick and Representative Mike Driscoll. It has strong support from both sides. Right now, it has more than 50 bipartisan co-sponsors. We put it together to be the most business-friendly retirement savings program in the nation.

With this approach, the only thing the employer has to do is provide an employee census and establish a payroll deduction for workers who want to save. That's it. The accounts are portable, so for workers they follow you from job to job, to job. We're very excited about this proposal. Ten other states have enacted similar legislation, by the way.

Here’s something you might like to see (above). We did some side by side comparisons of employer responsibilities in the traditional retirement savings space, versus under Keystone Saves.

(What did the results show? Get the rest of this story here.)

If you can’t tell, folks, there are a lot of great things happening in Pennsylvania right now. Thank you so much Treasurer Stacy Garrity for sharing your perspective with us. Want more? You can connect directly with Treasurer Garrity at TreasurerGarrity@patreasury.gov. You can follow the Treasurer’s work in Pennsylvania at patreasury.gov and in her newsroom. You can also connect with the Treasurer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

What we see: Funded accounts are now over 430,800 – up about 63% since December 2020. Assets are at $406 million, 2.5x December of last year. Average account balances are over $940. Oregon’s average account balance is $1,330. Long term account balances in all three programs are significantly higher. We continue to see opt out rates ticking very gradually downward, and average savings rates, aided by auto-escalation, ticking upward. Not shown in this chart, Oregon’s and Illinois’ current average savings rates are 5.6% while California, with fewer savers having experienced automatic escalation yet, is averaging 5%.

Across the three programs more than 46,600 employers are now registered to facilitate and 17,775 have begun facilitating.

Colorado (workforce 3.2 million) – The Colorado Secure Savings Program Board issued its RFP for program administration services to support its program along with other potential partner states. Questions are due February 14, and bids are due March 21, 1 PM MT. You can get your copy of the RFP here.

Illinois (workforce 6.2 million) - The Illinois Secure Choice Board has just published its 2021 Annual Report with a comprehensive update on the implementation and performance of Illinois Secure Choice. The program expresses its intent to work closely with employers who have missed their deadlines, smaller businesses who are now eligible for the program, and individuals who are now able to self-enroll. Here we paraphrase: With the program including savers in every county of Illinois, and with steady growth in new employers and savers every month of this year, Secure Choice continues to demonstrate its value in helping more workers save their own money to help ensure they can retire with dignity. 

You can also check out the Secure Choice Monthly Dashboard - January 2022

New Jersey (workforce 4.4 million) – The New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program Board is now active following a lull during the heart of the pandemic, meeting on Jan. 21^st 2022. The Board is still working on establishing a website. For now, here’s a great place to stay informed. 

New York (workforce 9.2 million) - *three cheers* New York State’s Secure Choice Savings Program implementation phase has started up.

As a quick reminder, last year New York joined the growing number of states requiring certain employers to either offer employees a retirement savings plan or enroll in the applicable state program. The New York State Secure Choice Savings Program (SCSP) provides a retirement savings program in the form of an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA. Requirements for applicable employers to enroll in the program became effective December 31, 2021 without a clear mechanism to do so. Further, it has also been anticipated that official action would be issued to repeal the New York City Retirement Security For All Act, but that has not yet occurred. 

Now, implementation of the SCSP appears to be moving forward. On January 26, 2022, the Board held its first meeting, adopted bylaws and delegated its authority and responsibility for the development and implementation of the program to the Department of Taxation and Finance. The meeting agenda and minutes are available here. For more see the press release here and an article by The National Law Review here. 

The Department has just issued an RFP on the Board’s behalf for a consultant to assist with program design and the development of future procurements for the SCSP administration and investment management. Questions are due February 24, and bids are due March 31, 2 PM ET. Link to RFP here.

And, here’s one more great place to stay informed. 

Oregon (workforce 2.1 million) - In a recent message, Treasurer Read comments on the successful transition of the OregonSaves program to a new program manager in 2021, referencing a number of enhancements now offered to Oregon's savers and their facilitating employers.

Virginia (workforce 4.2 million) - It's RFP central this week as programs move forward. The Virginia529 Retirement Program Advisory Committee issued its RFP for program administration services to support VirginiaSaves. Questions are due by February 18, and bids are due March 25, 5 PM EST. Link to RFP here.

California (workforce 17.9 million) – We can’t leave out the biggest state! the Los Angeles Times recently went deep on the program, covering its characteristics, employer and saver experience, and touching on alternatives employers have to meet the state’s requirement. In January Pensions & Investments covered the CalSavers Retirement Savings Board’s preparatory activities around ESG investment option review (subscription may be needed to view this piece). 

Hawaii (workforce 647,000) - We recently mentioned that the Hawaii Retirement Savings Task Force delivered its final report to the Legislature, including the recommendation to adopt an auto-IRA program for the state’s uncovered workers (estimated at 215,000). The report is now available online. You can follow the measure status here.   

Mahalo to the Hawaii Retirement Savings Task Force members for their dedication and to the consultants and staff members who have contributed to the work. House Bill 2046, introduced on January 24 by Representative Scott Saiki and which would establish the Hawaii Retirement Savings Program, is now referred to Committee(s).

Mississippi (workforce 1.3 million) – Although the legislative session is still active, on February 2^nd House Bill 152 that would have created the Mississippi Secure Choice Savings Program was marked as having “died in committee” for this year. February 1 was the deadline for bills to be reported out of committee in the house in which they were introduced.

Pennsylvania (workforce 6.2 million) – As noted in our leading piece, Pennsylvania is progressing its bill. On February 3, Representative Tracy Pennycuick introduced a measure that would establish the Keystone Saves Program. House Bill 2156 would create a state-facilitated Auto IRA program for employees of private sector employers with five or more employees that do not themselves offer a retirement plan. The bill would also create the Keystone Saves Program Advisory Board to run the program. Status: referred to House Commerce Committee.

Team Building: When it Matters Most

When you’re gearing up to implement a new government savings program, building the right team is critical. But one thing is for sure: you’ll never have enough people to do the work. There may only be a limited amount of funding for startup costs, and new programs can take years to become financially self-sustaining. What if you can only afford a single, full-time employee? What if you aren’t part of a larger, established organization, like a Treasurer’s office with existing business operations, like finance, HR, IT, and procurement?

One approach that helps me think about team building is mapping out the functional areas and expertise needed. Then I can look at existing resources and the gaps. A functions chart looks like an org chart, but it’s based on what needs to be done rather than who does it.

More to come! / Joel

Columnist and Senior Associate Joel Metlen is based in Oregon. Joel is a pioneer of the state facilitated retirement savings space, woven into a career of public service and innovation. At OregonSaves, Joel’s responsibilities ranged from marketing and employer engagement to operations and data analysis. You’ll see his insights from that experience, and more, here.

Curious about what everyone is listening to these days? Check out The State of Retirement – Shaping the Future podcast with the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives. 2022 kicks off with our friend Angela Antonelli interviewing Michael Kreps of Groom Law Group, who provides an overview of some of the more significant retirement related legislative reform initiatives considered but not enacted by Congress in 2021. Don’t miss Michael’s predictions for action in 2022.

What’s everyone reposting: CNBC’s new piece on personal finances spotlights the success of the early state facilitated retirement programs. Featuring Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives and research from the National Institute on Retirement Security.

More on emergency savings! BenefitsPRO released an analysis of key features important to the successful automation of workplace emergency savings plans. Featuring the Aspen Institute’s report, “Moving From Experimentation to the Mainstream: Policy Options to Automate Workplace Emergency Savings”. You’ll want to check it out for yourself.

What else we are reading, nonfiction style: This week it’s a side trip to John Hay. President Lincoln’s personal secretary resurfacing as President McKinley’s Secretary of State got us thinking about how interesting the life of John Hay must have been. We might even feel a bit of envy. We got double-distracted and started dipping in with Mark Zwonitzer’s The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism. Unexpected intersection with one of our favorite authors about whom we know very little!

And, because our sister is reading it, we feel it’s very important to know what it means to your negotiating skills if you Never Split the Difference. Is she never going to split the difference with us again? One must be prepared.

When you’re not with your nephews, you might love to enjoy a little piece of heaven in beautiful Potter County in north-central Pennsylvania. #thatlookscold

In warmer seasons, you might be joined by your husband Dan for dinner together out and about. Thank you for sharing, Treasurer, and thank you for joining us, family and Dan. ❤️

On the other coast, we like our weather cold too. To keep our insides warm while schussing, we rely on Steven Smith’s Portland Breakfast: “best drunk in the shadow of Mount Hood,” although you’ll have to take our word for it because that’s printed on the back side of the package.

That’s it for this edition. ❤ Hug your people and change the world.

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Massena Associates provides process, policy, and implementation consulting on retirement savings programs and products.

If you’d like to explore working together, we welcome the conversation. Connect with us here, and at 339-236-0684.

Looking for a great retirement savings innovation resource? Led by Dr. Alicia Munnell, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College develops and hosts terrific content and proprietary research related to states, financial security, social security, and more.

The Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, Exec Angela Antonelli, provides excellent information on state-based and other retirement security innovation and policy.

Pew’s Retirement Savings Project studies the challenges and opportunities for increasing retirement savings and is another great resource - check out the work of John Scott and his terrific team.

If you want a great source of broad-based, consumer-focused retirement news, Jeffrey H. Snyder’s The Morning Pulse is your ticket. You can subscribe here.