State-Managed Retirement Plan for California Workers Takes Shape

After nearly two years of work, the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board will vote Monday on a slate of recommendations to the Legislature on what a state-managed plan should look like. Those will be folded into pending legislation by Senate leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, with the goal of putting a bill to launch the program on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk this summer. In this debate over initial legislation, Republican lawmakers denounced what they called a proposal for a “massive” government program, and Democrats argued a state retirement plan would fill a “huge gap” for California residents.

The proposal puts California at the forefront of an effort championed by state Treasurer John Chiang, the White House, and others to respond to what they call a looming retirement crisis as fewer employers sponsor retirement plans and people do not save on their own. Instead, the government would become the sponsor, overseeing the retirement nest eggs of up to 7.5 million Californians estimated to be eligible.

Source/more: Sacramento Bee

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.