The SECURE Act has been billed as the largestretirement bill since passage of the Pension Protection Act in2006. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Update: Our sources were correct and the SECURE Act has beenattached to the spending package.

Several ERISA attorneys and representatives of employer andretirement industry trade groups are reporting that, in alllikelihood, the Setting Every Community Up For RetirementEnhancement Act or SECURE Act will be part of the larger spendingbill to be introduced into the House ofRepresentatives later today.

The SECURE Act has been billed as the largest retirement bill since passage of the PensionProtection Act in 2006.

It passed out of the House by a 417 to 3 vote in May. It failedto pass the Senate by unanimous consent in the summer and fall, dueto several holds on the bill related to non-retirementprovisions.

The bill includes a provision that would relax regulation ofOpen Multiple Employer Plans, new tax incentives for smallbusinesses to sponsor retirement plans, a long-awaitedannuity selection 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.

Components of the bill have been pushed by retirement planproviders and insurance companies for well over a decade. In 2016,a version of the bill, then titled the Retirement Enhancement andSavings Act, passed out of the Senate Finance Committee by aunanimous vote.

Over the years, not even the progressive wing of the DemocraticParty has pushed back against the provisions of the bill.

Some in the financial services industry have, however.

According to a Joint Committee on Taxation score of the billbefore it passed out of the House, the SECURE Act adds $389 millionto the federal budget over 10 years.

Its costs are mostly offset by an elimination of the so-calledStretch IRA. Under SECURE, distributions from inherited retirementaccounts will have to be completed within 10 years, with theexception of accounts bequeathed to spouses, children, or disabledbeneficiaries.

That has raised concerns among wealth planners, and drewcriticism earlier this year from the Wall Street Journal EditorialBoard.

And critics of annuities have also taken issue with theprovision that could make guaranteed income products more common in401(k) and other workplace retirement plans.

But the critics have been quiet relative to SECURE's chorus ofsupport.

"We're hearing it's in but still need to confirm that withrelease of the bill's text," said Geoff Manville, principal,government relations at Mercer.

The spending bill, reportedly to be near $1.4 trillion, will bevoted on by Tuesday or Wednesday in the House, and then sent to theSenate.

"I don't expect the two appropriations packages to hit snagsgiven the deadline for a government shutdown and lawmakers' holidayplans," added Manville.

Still, nothing is over until it's over, implied Senate FinanceChairman Charles Grassley. "What I think you need tounderstand is I've been on the phone Friday, Saturday and Sundaywith the people that are involved, including people in theadministration, and it's just a lot of negotiation going on," saidGrassley, quoted in Politico.

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