Neal Dunn: “I stand in support of this vital legislation to provide certainty and predictability in pension retirement benefits for…”

“I stand in support of this vital legislation to provide certainty and predictability in pension retirement benefits for the people I represent at home in Washington State. I want to compliment my two colleagues, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), for taking leadership to help all women who are being very diligent in their effort to become independent as they plan for their retirement years. This bill enables millions of women to devote more money to retirement savings, to accumulate assets more quickly, and to maintain their benefits in one retirement plan as they go from job to job. Women choose to leave the workforce for many reasons, including to raise a family or care for ailing parents. Often during those years they are unable to take full advantage of employer-sponsored pension funds. The retirement protections in our bill allow women to make catch-up contributions to their pension plans to make up for the time they spend away from the workforce. Before Portman-Cardin, it was very difficult to consolidate retirement funds from different plans into one plan. We took away these restrictions in our legislation to reflect the changing employment market. Today, we have more women working who tend to change jobs more frequently than do men. By enhancing portability, we ensure the retirement benefits follow the employee as she changes jobs.”