The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest employer
advocacy group, has made it clear where it stands on President Obama’s proposal
to create automatic retirement plans in every workplace: nice try, but no
thanks.
While the president’s proposal could increase participation in retirement
plans, it would also create a number of problems for small businesses in the
process, said Randy Johnson, vice president of labor and employee benefits at
the Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re all for increasing [retirement plan] coverage. But these are new
requirements that would be imposed on employers, and we oppose them.”
Mr. Johnson made his remarks Monday at the Arlington, Va.-based American
Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries’ 401(k) summit in San Diego.
Specifically, Mr. Obama’s proposal would require companies that do not
currently offer workers access to a retirement plan to automatically enroll
their employees in direct-deposit individual retirement accounts.
Mr. Johnson stated that this would primarily affect small businesses.
At the moment, there are a number of other labor and benefits proposals
coming out of Congress that are also targeting small businesses, he added, and
the auto-IRA mandate might overburden small companies.
“We’re looking at a number of mandates coming down the pike at once,” said
Mr. Johnson.
“Individually, this [auto-IRA proposal] might not seem like much, but you
have to look at the totality.”
Of the three million employers that the U.S. Chamber represents, roughly 96%
are considered small businesses with fewer than 100
workers.