(Photo: Mike Scarcella/ALM)

Senior Republican and Democrat lawmakers on appropriationscommittees, and the Secretary of the Treasury, emerged fromnegotiations on Thursday with a tentative agreement on a $1.37trillion spending package to fund the federal government in2020.

Details of the agreement have yet to be released, and areexpected to be formally packaged into spending bills this weekend.The House will vote on the package, and then the Senate, beforenext Friday's deadline to fund the government.

According to one source, the Setting Every Community Up ForRetirement Enhancement or SECURE Act will not be a part of thespending package, but could still be attached to another taxextender bill.

"I've heard lawmakers are having trouble putting together a taxextenders bill, which would be the vehicle for SECURE," said GeoffManville, principal, government relations at Mercer.

The SECURE Act passed the House of Representatives by a 417 to 3vote in May. It failed to pass the Senate by unanimous consent inthe summer and fall, due to several holds on the bill related tonon-retirement provisions.

The SECURE Act's vast provisions include relaxed regulation ofOpen Multiple Employer Plans, new tax incentives for smallbusinesses to sponsor retirement plans, a long-awaited annuityselection safe harbor for sponsors of retirement plans, theextension of the required minimum distribution age for qualifiedretirement plans, and the removal of the age cap on contributionsto traditional IRAs.

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

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.

Separately, Republicans and Democrats are reportedly negotiatingprovisions of a tax extender bill.

According to a Wall Street Journal opinion editorial,Republicans want to pass technical corrections to the 2017 taxbill. Democrats want to make the $2,000 child tax credit fullyrefundable, and allow childless adults to claim the earned incometax credit.

Other tax breaks for alternative energy production and electricvehicles are set to expire, and some lawmakers want to see themextended, the Journal reported.

READ MORE:

• Impact and opportunities in the SECUREAct
• With or without SECURE Act, industryon the precipice of new evolution
• What the SECURE Act means for annuities in401(k)s