Advancing Commonsense Policies Act
Sponsored By: Representative Magaziner
Introduced
Summary
This bill would focus on major federal retirement and savings reforms while also expanding veteran apprenticeships and new protections for employees hurt on the job. It bundles automatic enrollment, stronger employer credits, plan fixes, and veteran business and training supports into one package.
Show full summary
- Workers and savers get automatic enrollment in many 401(k)/403(b) plans with a minimum of 3% and automatic escalation toward at least 10%. It raises required minimum distribution ages on a tiered schedule and boosts catch‑up and Saver's Credit rules to help low‑ and middle‑income savers.
- Small employers and employers would see bigger startup tax credits and a new optional credit for employer contributions with a per‑employee cap of $1,000. Plans may match qualified student loan payments to help workers save while paying loans.
- Veterans and transitioning service members get stronger apprenticeship access and a searchable Department of Labor website listing approved apprenticeships, plus a Boots to Business entrepreneurship program running through Sept. 30, 2028.
*The bill also authorizes targeted supplemental appropriations of $1.0 million each for several federal programs, including a telehealth resource center and select agency accounts.*
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
18 provisions identified: 13 benefits, 1 costs, 4 mixed.
Automatic enrollment and participation boost
If enacted, employers would have to automatically enroll most workers in 401(k) and many 403(b) plans starting for plan years after Dec. 31, 2025. The first-year default must be between 3% and 10%, and it would automatically rise by 1 percentage point each year until at least 10% (and no more than 15% for later years). The bill would also let plans offer small cash incentives without breaking rules, let employers match student loan payments like deferrals (for plan years after Dec. 31, 2024), allow certain multi-employer 403(b) plans, and require clearer blended benchmarks and a searchable lost-and-found for retirement accounts.
Easier access and withdrawal protections
If enacted, the bill would expand who can take penalty-free or hardship distributions and make it easier to get them. It would create a limited penalty-free withdrawal for domestic abuse victims (up to $10,000 or 50% of the nonforfeitable benefit), extend the repayment window for birth/adoption distributions to three years, allow more types of 403(b) money for hardship withdrawals, let administrators rely on employee hardship certifications, and add a firefighter early-withdrawal exception. It would also raise the forced cash-out limit to $7,000 and limit how plans can take back overpayments.
Changes to personal retirement taxes
If enacted, the Saver's Credit would become more generous (50% rate starting for tax years after Dec. 31, 2028 with specified income thresholds). The bill raises and indexes catch-up limits for older savers and indexes the $1,000 IRA catch-up after 2025. It would let SIMPLE and SEP plans have Roth designations and let employers make Roth matching contributions taxable when made. But it would also require that some extra elective deferrals be Roth (taxed now). The bill narrows some IRA and excise-tax timing rules so certain corrections treat only the amount involved.
Small employer retirement tax help
If enacted, small employers would get bigger startup credits when they start or join retirement plans. A new credit can cover up to $1,000 per employee and phases 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% over the first four years. The bill also creates a $250 credit per military-spouse employee plus up to $250 of employer contributions. At the same time, the bill narrows some related owner tests and caps certain S-corporation seller deferrals to 10% of sale proceeds, so some owners face tighter limits.
Veterans apprenticeship search website
If enacted, the government would create or update a public website that lists apprenticeship programs for veterans. The site would be searchable by job and location and show program cost, contact details, veteran endorsements, hiring preference for veterans, and certificates or degrees offered.
Easier plan error correction rules
If enacted, the bill would expand the ways plan sponsors and IRA custodians can self-correct many inadvertent retirement-plan mistakes. It would treat a key IRS revenue procedure as amended at enactment so some correction deadlines are indefinite and allow loan and IRA-rollover waivers when failures are reasonable and not abusive.
Higher required minimum distribution ages
If enacted, the age when you must start required minimum distributions would rise on a schedule for people hitting age thresholds after Dec. 31, 2024. The bill also directs rule changes for longevity annuities (removing a 25% premium cap and adding a 90-day free-look), indexes qualified charitable distribution dollar limits, and allows a one-time QCD election to fund split-interest charities up to $50,000. The bill would exclude some service-connected disability retirement payments for first responders from taxable income starting after 2029.
Lower penalty for missed retirement distributions
This bill would cut the excise tax for failing to take required minimum distributions from 50% to 25% for tax years after December 31, 2024. If you correct the shortfall and file during a defined correction window, the excise tax could be reduced to 10%.
Veteran entrepreneurship and apprenticeships
This bill would create a Boots to Business entrepreneurship program to train veterans, service members, Transition Assistance Program participants, and their spouses or dependents through September 30, 2028. The program would allow grants to Veteran Business Outreach Centers and require reports on participation and outcomes. The bill would also add registered apprenticeship programs to the list of transition options available to separating service members.
Clearer retirement plan rules for workers
This bill would let part-time workers meet participation and vesting by having two back-to-back 12-month periods with at least 500 hours each and reaching age 21 by the end of the 24-month period. It would let plan administrators stop sending most notices to eligible but unenrolled workers if those workers get an annual reminder and can request documents. The bill would give plans a remedial amendment window to adopt required changes and require pooled employer plans to name a fiduciary with written contribution procedures. It would also require at least one paper pension statement per year for individual account plans beginning for plan years after December 31, 2025.
Changes to retirement investments and rules
This bill would require Treasury to allow exchange-traded funds to be used in variable insurance contracts seven years after enactment. It would let 403(b) custodial accounts invest in group trusts for amounts invested after December 31, 2024. The bill would clarify that some commercial annuities sold with plans may include small annual increases under 5% starting in calendar years after enactment. It would also change tests for when employer stock counts as publicly traded for ESOPs and set new board meeting-frequency rules for federal credit unions.
Retirement help for injured federal workers
This bill would let certain federal employees who are injured while in covered positions have later service treated as covered service for annuity and payroll-deduction rules if they transition to a non-covered civil service job without a break. Agencies must certify the injury and issue implementing regulations, and the injury rule applies to illnesses or injuries occurring two years after enactment.
Higher penalties for crimes near schools
This bill would add up to five years of extra imprisonment for coercion, enticement, and human trafficking offenses committed in school zones, within 1,000 feet of school activities, or on or within 1,000 feet of college premises. The bill defines 'minor' as under 18 for these provisions.
New federal oversight and agency rules
This bill would require each House standing committee to hold a hearing on how the Act is implemented within one year of enactment. It would direct PAYGO scoring to use the Budget Committee Chair's latest submitted PAYGO statement before the passage vote. The bill would require a uniform DHS review process for grant-funded nonstandard equipment and an Inspector General report within three years. It would also bar public disclosure of whistleblower identities in most House settings and extend NASA's enhanced-use lease authority through December 31, 2033.
Telehealth support for nursing homes
This bill would provide $1,000,000 to the Telehealth Resource Center to address technical, legal, and regulatory barriers for telehealth in skilled nursing and nursing facilities. The funds would be available through September 30, 2026 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. This aims to improve access to telehealth for nursing facility residents, especially in rural areas.
One-year DHS and USDA funding
This bill would add $1,000,000 to the Department of Homeland Security Management Directorate for operations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. This bill would also add $1,000,000 to USDA's Office of Budget and Program Analysis for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. These are one-time appropriations for agency operations and do not directly change household benefits.
Small targeted agency funding
If enacted, the bill would provide one-time targeted appropriations of $1,000,000 each for Army operation and maintenance, the Energy Information Administration, and the State Department Capital Investment Fund for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2026.
One-year extension of livestock reporting
This bill would extend mandatory livestock reporting through 2025 by changing statutory expiration references from 2024 to 2025. The extension keeps existing industry reporting obligations in place for one more year.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Magaziner
RI • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Start a Free Government Policy Watch to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in