Passage of the SECURE Act in theHouse comes after years of concerted lobbying from retirement planservice providers, trade organizations, and consumer advocates.(Photo: Shutterstock)

The most sweeping retirement legislation in more than a decadepassed today out of the U.S. House of Representatives by a 417 to 3vote.

The SECURE Act's vast provisions include relaxed regulation ofOpen Multiple Employer Plans, new taxincentives for small businesses to sponsor retirement plans, along-awaited annuity selection safe harbor for sponsors ofretirement plans, the extension of the required minimumdistribution age for qualified retirement plans, and the removal ofthe age cap on contributions to traditional IRAs.

“This is a providential day,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-PA, duringthe floor debate preceding the vote, referring to the bipartisaneffort to advance the SECURE Act in House Ways and MeansCommittee.

Related: What the SECURE Act means for annuities in401k(s)

“It's a great bill, not just a good bill,” said Rep. DannyDavis, D-IL.

Despite the overwhelming support for the bill, the morning'sdebate was not without controversy. Earlier in the week, Houseleadership stripped a provision of the bill that would allow529 savings accounts to cover early, middle,and high school education costs, including costs for privateeducation and home schooling.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-TX, accused special interests—namely,teachers' unions—of blocking the expanded 529 provision “for nogood reason.”

“Back door deals made in the dead of night are not the way to dobusiness,” said Brady.

A long, concerted push from retirement services industry

Passage of the SECURE Act in the House comes after years—adecade with respect to some of the bill's provisions—of concertedlobbying from retirement plan service providers, tradeorganizations, and consumer advocates.

“The bipartisan Secure Act is the most significant legislationaimed at bolstering America's retirement system in more than adecade, and it provides for much-needed access to workplaceretirement plans, improved retirement savings, and guaranteedretirement income that cannot be outlived,” said Phil Waldeck,president of Prudential Retirement, in a statement. “To keep thismomentum going, we strongly urge the Senate to move swiftly onretirement security and pass this important legislation.”

“The SECURE Act is an important first step to address theretirement 'coverage gap' which disproportionately affects smallbusiness workers,” said Dave Gray, head of workplace retirementsolutions for Fidelity Investments.

“Common-sense changes in the SECURE Act eliminate barriers forsmaller employers to band together in a multiple employer plan forthe benefit of achieving economies of scale. We believe enactingthis legislation will deliver low cost, high quality solutions formillions of small business workers,” added Gray.

“Just last week, nearly 600 NAIFA members met with more than 90percent of congressional offices during NAIFA's CongressionalConference and urged lawmakers to vote for the bill. It's alwayssatisfying to see results from our grassroots advocacy be realizedso quickly,” said Kevin Mayeux, CEO of the National Association ofInsurance and Financial Advisors.

“This legislation will contribute to increased access toretirement plans at small businesses – helping the58 percent of workers who do not currently have access toa retirement plan that work for a small business,” said Sri Reddy,senior vice president at Principal, and chair of the ERISA AdvisoryCouncil.

“We are advocates of the multiple employer plan, which willoffset retirement plan set-up costs, lowering barriers to entry forthe employers who say they do not offer plans because of financialcost or lack of organizational resources,” added Reddy.

In the Senate, the ground is being laid for consideration of theRetirement Enhancement Savings Act, a bill comparable to the SECUREAct. Industry sources expect the upper chamber will take up aconsolidated version of both bills, perhaps before Congressrecesses for the summer.

“We're moving past talk to action on retirement security now,”said Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Council of LifeInsurers. “This overwhelming and bipartisan vote in the Houseprovides tremendous momentum for Senate consideration of RESA.”

Analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation shows the SECURE Actwould add $389 million to the federal deficit over the 10-yearbudget window.

Open MEPs would allow unaffiliated businesses to pool employeesand retirement assets under one defined contribution plan. Industryservice providers could be the fiduciary sponsors of MEPs, alongwith trade organizations.

Individual employers that participate in MEPs would retainfiduciary obligations to select and monitor MEP sponsors. But thefiduciary obligation to selecting investments would fall to MEPsponsors.

The Open MEP provision of the bill is its second mostexpensive—JCT projects it would add $3.42 billion to the federalbudget over 10 years, as more workers enroll in tax deferredsavings programs.

The provision increasing the RMD on qualified retirement plansfrom 70 ½ to 72 would add $8.86 billion to the federal debt.

Repealing the age cap on traditional IRA contributions would add$130 million to the country's debt over 10 years. Extendingretirement plan participation to more part-time workers would addanother $769.

The bill raises $15.7 billion over 10 years by eliminating theso-called Stretch IRA. Under the SECURE Act, distributions frominherited retirement accounts will have to be completed within 10years, with the exception of accounts bequeathed to spouses,children, or disabled beneficiaries.

As was the case on the House floor, support for the SECURE Actin industry is effectively unanimous.

“Congress has done a great service to American retirement saversby voting for the SECURE Act,” said Ed Murphy, president and CEO ofEmpower. “It's exciting that retirement policy has garneredbipartisan support from Reps. Richard Neal, D-MA., chairman of theWays & Means Committee, and Kevin Brady, R-TX., the committee'sranking member, who understand the importance of helping Americanworkers save for retirement.”

“The next stop is the Senate, where we hope these reforms movequickly,” added Murphy.

Read more: 

• Open MEPs put retirement industry roles on thebrink of change
• Even with Open MEPs, state-IRAs, millions wouldstill be without access to a workplace retirementplan
• Everyone loves the big new retirement bills…but…