NEW ORLEANS – In response to the retirement crisis, "progressives" would like to create a government-sponsored DC plan, according to Preston Rutledge, benefits tax counsel for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Ruteledge is a staff member of that committee, reporting to Sen. Orin Hatch, R–Utah, and made it clear that his views – presented Sunday at the NAPA 401(k) Summit during the first general session, titled "From the Hill to the Summit" – were entirely his own.

He postulated that such a plan would include mandatory retirement savings with an auto-elect feature. That alone might not be troubling for him but he would find it problematic if that plan incorporated a "refundable saver's credit" for low- and middle-class workers – an add-on he predicted would be "introduced in the next 60 days in the Senate, and that the government could actually provide the funds that went into a worker's retirement savings.