Skip to main content
S 972 116th Congress Senate Taxation Border security and unlawful immigration Consumer credit Corporate finance and management Emergency medical services and trauma care Employee benefits and pensions Fires First responders and emergency personnel Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management Government information and archives House of Representatives Income tax credits Income tax deferral Income tax exclusion Inflation and prices Judges Life, casualty, property insurance Military personnel and dependents Motor carriers Motor vehicles

Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019

Introduced: April 1, 2019 Introduced by: Grassley, Chuck Republican · Iowa See on congress.gov
This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Apr 1, 2019
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Apr 1, 2019
Introduced in Senate
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019

This bill modifies requirements for tax-favored retirement savings accounts, employer-provided retirement plans, and retirement benefits for federal judges.

With respect to employer-provided plans, the bill modifies requirements regarding

  • multiple employer plans,
  • automatic enrollment and nonelective contributions,
  • loans,
  • terminating or transferring plans,
  • reporting and disclosure rules,
  • nondiscrimination rules,
  • selecting lifetime income providers, and
  • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums.

The bill also increases the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs and allows a tax credit for small employers that establish retirement plans that include automatic enrollment.

With respect to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), the bill

  • treats taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation,
  • repeals the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, and
  • permits any IRA to be a shareholder of any S corporation that is a bank.

The bill makes several modifications to retirement benefits for magistrate judges of the U.S. Tax Court and other federal judges.

The bill also modifies various tax provisions to

  • reinstate and increase the tax exclusion for benefits provided to volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders,
  • revise the required distribution rules for pension plans,
  • increase penalties for failing to file tax or retirement plan returns, and
  • require the Internal Revenue Service to share returns and return information with U.S. Customs Border Protection to administer the heavy vehicle use tax.
What's happening now April 1, 2019

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Related & companion bills 6
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 972: Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-972/
MLA
"S. 972: Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-972/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 972, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-972/.
Markdown link
[S. 972: Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-972/)
Report a problem