The state’s newly created Retirement Security Board is accepting public comment as it gears up to commission a feasibility study of a state-backed retirement plan for private-sector workers.
The RSB, chaired by Treasurer Denise Nappier and Comptroller Kevin Lembo, includes investment managers, union leaders, law professors, bankers, and others. The RSB will accept written comments until Nov. 3. A public hearing will be held Nov. 19.
If the legislature ultimately adopts the board’s plan, it would create an IRA account administered by a trust fund board. Employers who don’t offer a retirement savings plan to workers will be required to participate in the plan.
A study released last year by the progressive-leaning Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis said approximately 740,000 Connecticut residents are not participating in an employer-provided retirement plan.
State officials hope such a plan would increase retirement savings and reduce the need for public assistance for retired residents.
Financial services companies and others oppose the idea, saying it would add costs for employers and put the state in direct competition with them, potentially hurting 100,000 jobs.
More than 20 states are studying or implementing such plans, according to Bankrate.com, which said Connecticut is further along than many.
The RSB study will analyze likely participation rates, contribution levels, account closures and rollovers, the ability to provide companies with a payroll deposit system to remit employee contributions, and other considerations.
The RSB, created and given $400,000 under the legislature’s budget implementer bill passed at the tail end of the legislative session in May, must submit its report to the governor and other leaders by early 2016.
