(a) The program developed and established under this chapter must:(a) Allow eligible individuals in the state to voluntarily choose whether or not to contribute to an IRA under the program, including allowing covered employees in the state the choice to contribute to an IRA through payroll deduction under the program;(b) Allow each covered employer to voluntarily offer its employees the voluntary choice whether or not to contribute to a payroll deduction IRA by permitting automatic enrollment where employees may opt out of participation;(c) Provide that the IRA to which contributions are made will be a Roth IRA, except that the State Treasurer shall have the authority at any time, to add an option for all participants to affirmatively elect to contribute to a traditional IRA as an alternative to the Roth IRA;(d) Provide that the standard package shall be a Roth IRA with a target date fund investment, and that the covered employee can choose to stop participation altogether, can use a traditional IRA and a different investment from among the options available, and can contribute at a higher or lower contribution rate, subject to the IRA contribution dollar limits applicable under the Internal Revenue Code;(e) Provide on a uniform basis, if and when the State Treasurer so determines, in its discretion, for annual increases of each participant’s contribution rate, by not more than one percent (1%) of salary or wages per year up to a maximum of eight percent (8%). Any such increases shall apply to participants, as determined by the State Treasurer, by default or only if initiated by affirmative participant election (including as part of the standard package), in either case subject to the IRA contribution limits applicable under the Internal Revenue Code;(f) Provide for direct deposit of contributions into investments under the program;(g) Be professionally managed;(h) Permit no employer contributions by covered employers;(i) Provide for reports on the status of each participant’s account to be provided to each participant at least annually;(j) When possible and practicable, use existing or new employer, other private-sector, and public infrastructure and common, collective, or pooled investment arrangements to the extent desirable to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of program outreach, enrollment, contributions, recordkeeping, investment, distributions, compliance, and other aspects of program design, administration and implementation consistent with the purposes set forth in this chapter, including the purpose of achieving economies of scale and other efficiencies designed to minimize costs for the program and its participants and the provisions of paragraph (l) of this section;(k) Provide that each account holder owns the contributions to or earnings on amounts contributed to his or her account under the program and that the state and employers have no proprietary interest in those contributions or earnings;(l) Be designed and implemented in a manner consistent with federal law, including favorable federal tax treatment, to the extent that it applies and is consistent with the program not being preempted by ERISA;(m) Make provision for the participation in the program of individuals who are not employees;(n) Keep total fees and expenses as low as practicable and in any event each year not in excess of seventy-five hundredths of one percent (0.75%) of the total assets of the program, except that this limit shall not apply during a start-up period of three (3) years beginning with the initial implementation of the program;(o) Establish rules and procedures governing the distribution of funds from the program, including such distributions as may be permitted or required by the program and any applicable provisions of tax laws, with the objectives of maximizing financial security in retirement, helping to protect spousal rights, and assisting participants with the challenges of decumulation of savings. The State Treasurer shall have the authority, in his discretion, to provide for one or more reasonably priced distribution options to provide a source of fixed regular retirement income, including income for life or for the participant’s life expectancy (or for joint lives and life expectancies, as applicable); and(p) Establish rules and procedures promoting portability of benefits, including the ability to make tax-free rollovers or transfers from IRAs under the program to other IRAs or to tax-qualified plans that accept such rollovers or transfers provided any rollover is initiated by participants and not solicited by agents or brokers.
(a) Allow eligible individuals in the state to voluntarily choose whether or not to contribute to an IRA under the program, including allowing covered employees in the state the choice to contribute to an IRA through payroll deduction under the program;
(b) Allow each covered employer to voluntarily offer its employees the voluntary choice whether or not to contribute to a payroll deduction IRA by permitting automatic enrollment where employees may opt out of participation;
(c) Provide that the IRA to which contributions are made will be a Roth IRA, except that the State Treasurer shall have the authority at any time, to add an option for all participants to affirmatively elect to contribute to a traditional IRA as an alternative to the Roth IRA;
(d) Provide that the standard package shall be a Roth IRA with a target date fund investment, and that the covered employee can choose to stop participation altogether, can use a traditional IRA and a different investment from among the options available, and can contribute at a higher or lower contribution rate, subject to the IRA contribution dollar limits applicable under the Internal Revenue Code;
(e) Provide on a uniform basis, if and when the State Treasurer so determines, in its discretion, for annual increases of each participant’s contribution rate, by not more than one percent (1%) of salary or wages per year up to a maximum of eight percent (8%). Any such increases shall apply to participants, as determined by the State Treasurer, by default or only if initiated by affirmative participant election (including as part of the standard package), in either case subject to the IRA contribution limits applicable under the Internal Revenue Code;
(f) Provide for direct deposit of contributions into investments under the program;
(g) Be professionally managed;
(h) Permit no employer contributions by covered employers;
(i) Provide for reports on the status of each participant’s account to be provided to each participant at least annually;
(j) When possible and practicable, use existing or new employer, other private-sector, and public infrastructure and common, collective, or pooled investment arrangements to the extent desirable to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of program outreach, enrollment, contributions, recordkeeping, investment, distributions, compliance, and other aspects of program design, administration and implementation consistent with the purposes set forth in this chapter, including the purpose of achieving economies of scale and other efficiencies designed to minimize costs for the program and its participants and the provisions of paragraph (l) of this section;
(k) Provide that each account holder owns the contributions to or earnings on amounts contributed to his or her account under the program and that the state and employers have no proprietary interest in those contributions or earnings;
(l) Be designed and implemented in a manner consistent with federal law, including favorable federal tax treatment, to the extent that it applies and is consistent with the program not being preempted by ERISA;
(m) Make provision for the participation in the program of individuals who are not employees;
(n) Keep total fees and expenses as low as practicable and in any event each year not in excess of seventy-five hundredths of one percent (0.75%) of the total assets of the program, except that this limit shall not apply during a start-up period of three (3) years beginning with the initial implementation of the program;
(o) Establish rules and procedures governing the distribution of funds from the program, including such distributions as may be permitted or required by the program and any applicable provisions of tax laws, with the objectives of maximizing financial security in retirement, helping to protect spousal rights, and assisting participants with the challenges of decumulation of savings. The State Treasurer shall have the authority, in his discretion, to provide for one or more reasonably priced distribution options to provide a source of fixed regular retirement income, including income for life or for the participant’s life expectancy (or for joint lives and life expectancies, as applicable); and
(p) Establish rules and procedures promoting portability of benefits, including the ability to make tax-free rollovers or transfers from IRAs under the program to other IRAs or to tax-qualified plans that accept such rollovers or transfers provided any rollover is initiated by participants and not solicited by agents or brokers.